Forgiveness To You
by cbssoapsgirl
Summary: Will Olivia forgive Fitz?
1. Forgiveness

"You can't be here," Olivia opened the door without a "hi" or "hello". "I don't want you here."

He seemed a bit off guard but considering what had happened between them, why should he be surprised? He had done something he knew he should not have done but never thought she would find out. Why didn't he think she'd find out? She's Olivia Pope. Of all people to find out, she would be the one. She had sources and knew her way to get what she wanted. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that she knew.

"If you let me explain please, you know I wouldn't intentionally hurt you, ever. I don't know why I did it. I was lonely, I guess," he told her.

"Isn't that what they all say? 'I was lonely. She didn't mean anything. I made a mistake.' That's what you're going to say right?"

He had this all planned out, what he would say to her. Actually thought he could predict her reaction. But he couldn't really. "It's true, I was lonely. She did not mean anything to me and I did make a mistake. I'm sorry. You know I am. How couldn't I be? But then again. You left me. You didn't want to save me, so why should I be apologizing? Because I love you. More than anything in the world. After everything, you must believe that." What else could he say or do to make her believe that?

"Amanda Tanner is in my guest room asleep. Good night Mr. President." And with that the famous Olivia Pope slammed the door in his face.

Fitzgerald Thomas Grant the Third, President of the United States of America, was stunned with her actions. How had he not seen that coming? He hurt her deeply and knew somewhere in his mind that she was going to do that. She'd dodge him for weeks if she had to, but he would summon her to him at the White House. He'd send Tom or Hal to pick her up and bring her to him. Anything so he could apologize face to face and make her believe that he was truly sorry.

Fitz thought if he should knock again, but he knew she would either ignore him or just slam the door again. And she had a right to. She was the love of his life that had been hurt, though she wouldn't admit it. She was angry, upset, pissed.

He stood there for another couple minutes. Hearing her pace around the living room; back and forth it sounded. Suddenly he heard a crash of glass being thrown. She was so upset she threw something? That was not the Olivia he knew, she'd never thrown anything he could think of. Fitz thought briefly about going in and checking on her, just breaking down the door, but thought better about it. She was pissed and he knew that, instead he told his Secret Service Agents, Tom and Hal, to take a seat; it was going to be an all-nighter. Outside Olivia's apartment were a couple of chairs so they could sit down and relax for a bit. Fitz sat on the floor leaning against her door. He could hear her footsteps begin again. After a while they stopped and he started drifting off to sleep.

Olivia got up at 7 that morning. Getting ready for work, she put on her black dress pants with her favorite white button up top. She put her hair in a ponytail and applied her make-up. Grabbing everything she needed she slipped on her white heels and grabbed her purse. Another day at Olivia Pope and Associates was about to begin but she could only think of Fitz showing up last night. She wanted to forgive him, more than anything. But he did something she didn't know if she could forgive him for. Cheating was something she thought she could forgive but he lied to her and that was what she couldn't forgive. Olivia Pope never put up with lying. Even from Fitzgerald. Taking a look over in the mirror next to the door, she turned the knob to open it and a thud hit the ground before her.

"Ouch!" So forcefully woken up from his uncomfortable sleep, Fitz sat up taking in the sight of her.

"You spent the night in front of my door? Unbelievable Fitzgerald. How are you going to explain this at the White House? Never mind, I don't care. It's not my problem. You're just lucky I wake up before the press corps arrives. I have to go," Olivia was surprised when she saw him.

She closed and locked the door and stepped over Fitz still sitting on the floor. Before she could get any further Fitz grabbed her left wrist stopping her. When he grabbed her wrist he heard her hiss in pain. Looking at her wrist that he was holding, he saw the open cut across the surface. Left to right. He was nervous she tried to hurt herself but it looked fresh, new. Unable to take the curiosity of it he asked. "Olivia what did you do?" Quickly she pulled her hand away from him.

"I didn't do anything and even if I did I wouldn't tell you. You need to go. I'm leaving and there's no reason for you to be here anyway," Olivia told him.

Knowing that she was lying, Fitz was not sure if he should push her. "You did, I heard the glass break. Liv, it looks really bad. Let me help you get it wrapped, we can go see the doctor at the White House and talk." Fitz pleaded with her to let him help. He just needed time to explain and he hoped she would let him. "Don't be so stubborn Liv, you're hurt and I'll help you."

"I can do that myself. I don't need you to help me. And I don't want to talk to you."

Fitz was starting to grow impatient with her. He just wanted to, needed to, talk with her. "Damn it Olivia, please. I want to tell you how sorry I am and you know I am. We can talk this out and you can decide what to do after that. Please, Livie."

Olivia was hesitant at first, but she remembered what a determined man Fitzgerald Grant the Third was. "Fine, let's go inside. We'll fix this."

"I can't talk to you in there, Amanda's in there."

Olivia turned her head away from him. "She's not here."

Fitz was confused. "You said she was here last night and I've been here all night. She…" Olivia cut him off.

"I lied. How else was I going to get you to leave? She's not here but she is my client. But she's…"

"She's what? On her way here? Or on her way to your office? What Liv?"

"She's missing." Olivia unlocked the door and let Fitz in.

"What do you mean she's missing? Liv what the hell is going on?" Fitz walked into the living room and saw the spilled wine from the bottle she threw. "YOU threw WINE! OLIVIA POPE THREW WINE!"

"It was the closest thing I had. I was a bit pissed." Liv went into the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit then came over to Fitz. "Are you going to help me or not?"

Fitz started to clean up her cut. Not sure where to start with the conversation he just began. "I love you. All the excuses in the world can't make you forgive me but I am sorry. And it is not a reason or an excuse that I was lonely or she didn't mean anything. But it's true; she didn't mean anything to me. She was there and it was one time. I swear on Jerry and Karen. Amanda was a mistake. She was barely even a one night stand. I was drunk and I missed you. Work with me Liv. I need you with me. You crashed my world when you left me and I need you. There's no excuse for what I did, I'm hoping you can forgive me. Come back to me, sweet baby."

"Well, you are right; there is no excuse. You knew why I had to leave. It killed me to do it, but I had to. I know you love me but there's nothing we can do about that. You are the President and it's going to be that way. We worked so hard to get you here and it's what you have to do." She looked at Fitz cleaning her wound. It was sweet how he helped her with her injury. Being soft and gentle with her. "It's not the cheating that pissed me off. We weren't together and I understand that. It's that you looked me in the eyes and lied to me. That I mistrusted my gut because I thought you would never lie to me. I could forgive the cheating but we weren't together so you don't need my forgiveness."

Fitz caught her every word. He knew that lying was a deal breaker for Olivia. No matter how little, a lie was a lie. "I was too ashamed to tell you the truth. I know why you left; I should have left with you. I get that you wanted to leave. I am sorry that she did that. And I like being President and all that. Thank you so much for helping me get here. But if it means that I can't be with you, then I don't want it. You know I don't want it too. Why should I stay when I can be happy with you?"

"Cyrus insists that some men aren't meant to be happy, that they're meant to be great. He thinks you were meant to be great. It just means you have to be unhappy for a while. We've discussed Vermont but that's going to have to wait. You need 8 years in the White House to get things done and make this country even greater than it is. You're going to do great things and I'll be fixing every mess you make on the way. I love you and it's just going to take a while for us to get to where we want to be. Vermont is…"

"I built us a house up there. So don't you dare say it's a dream. You can make jam and run OPA from there if you want. It's a big house, enough room for everyone, and you and me will spend the rest of our lives there. Livie, if you deny us Vermont then we'll be nothing. We've been working on this plan for 2 years. I need you to stay with this. With me. I'll divorce her now and stop being President. I don't want it. I want you and our life together. We can't keep putting other's happiness in front of our own. I can't be happy unless I'm with you. And you, well, I'm not sure which makes you happier, me or wine," Liv laughed at his little joke. He was trying to lighten the mood and she was happy about that. They had some intense conversation already and she knew he was going to be serious soon. "I have resignation papers in my desk signed. And whether or not you agree to be with me I will file them. But I'm hoping you will be with me. I can do anything with you by me. Together, you and me, can change this country for the better. I'm tired of pretending to the world that she and I are happy. It's a complete lie. I'm not even sure why you put up with it. Olivia Pope does not help liars. Yet, the Olivia Pope helped me get elected in an awful marriage and helped me lie to the United States citizens about how happy a marriage we were in. Olivia I'm going to be with you. I'm filing those papers and I'll stop being President of this amazing country and stop lying to America about her. She and I will divorce and I'll be freely able to be with you."

Olivia watched Fitz closely, seeing if the truth was what he was saying. She knew he wanted to be with her and her with him. But America wanted Fitz and Mellie. They never asked for Fitz and Olivia. They barely knew Olivia existed. "Fitz, I want to be with you. And I will be, but you can't stop being President. America needs you. We will work it out. I'll fix it. If you want to divorce Mellie, I will help you with that. Don't file those papers, burn them. If you truly want me as your First Lady then I'll make it happen. I'm sick of looking at the news and seeing you with her in the pretend smile and her threatening to say anything about you and me. I'll find enough ammunition to fuel the fire and you can be divorced, it that's what you want."

Fitz leaned in and kissed her hard. "That's all I want Livie, you've always been my First Lady and it's time we make it official. Now, I know this isn't exactly a good time to discuss this, but earlier you said that Amanda was something? Is she on her way here? Where is she?"

"She's missing."


	2. Missing

"Missing?" Fitz was a bit confused. Amanda was missing? She was just walking around the White House the other day. How is it possible that she's missing? "I saw her the other day. Maybe she's sick. Maybe she went to visit her parents. She's not missing."

"Amanda Tanner is missing. I've looked everywhere for her. All the places that she would be. The dog is at her house. I'm looking for her and so are my people. Huck is taking care of it. It's being handled. I will find her." Olivia had a gut feeling that something was wrong when Amanda didn't show up for their appointment two days before. "She tried to kill herself because of what I did. Now I'm going to fix it. I'll make sure that she gets what she deserves."

Fitz got concerned. This would mean that they would be fighting against each other; Liv would be the enemy to him. He loved her; he didn't want to fight her like that. "You're going to go against me? Olivia you know that isn't a good thing. The White House will have to take you down and there's nothing I can do to stop it. As much as I want to help you, I can't. She's your client which makes you the enemy. I'm asking you not to do this, Liv. Please?"

Did he think that she wanted to take him down? She loved him. Taking him down meant hurting him, hurting the administration that she helped build, that she was once a part of. But there was no other way. She had to do it. Olivia thought about the ways that she could be on his side and still help Amanda but none of the solutions turned out good. Each time, no matter the situation, he would hate her and she didn't want that, but there wasn't another choice. Olivia Pope wore the white hat. It had to stay on her head. "She's pregnant, I have to do it. There's a missing twenty something year old girl who's pregnant with the President's child. I have to find her."

"IT IS NOT MY CHILD!" Fitz got angry at her accusing him of impregnating her. They had slept together but he was positive that it wasn't his child. He didn't get her pregnant. "You have to believe me, the child isn't mine."

"Well, when I find her, I'll send for a sample of your DNA to either prove or disprove it is yours." Olivia started pacing in a path. She was thinking again. "I can't find her and I've looked everywhere. She can't hide from me. Where would I go find I was carrying the President's bastard child?"

"Livie, please…" Before Fitz could continue Olivia's cell phone started ringing. He watched her walk over to her purse and pull out her cell phone.

"Huck?... Alright, thank you. I'll be in the office soon." Liv hung up the phone and put it in her purse. She took a few deep breaths and waited to calm down. She knew yelling would get her nowhere so why do it? Other than to feel better.

"Talk to me Liv. What did Huck say?"

Olivia turned to look at him. His blue eyes turned a bit of grey and she didn't know what to say. She rests her arms at her sides and took a few steps in front of him. He watched her brown eyes turn into dark black pupils as her eyes dilated. Before he knew what was happening Olivia slapped him across the left side of his face. "WHAT DID YOU DO!"

When he didn't answer her, she went to strike him again but he grabbed her hands. "What did Huck say?" What could be so bad that she actually hit him? A million thoughts ran across his mind in a second. Hoping for the best outcome. Amanda was alive, but she was hurt in a hospital? Something that had to involve Amanda.

"They found Amanda. You dumped her in the river? What you thought she was not going to go away quietly so you killed her? You had someone kill her!" Olivia was more than angry. She was pissed. And this was not a side of Olivia that Fitz had ever seen before. She hit him hard. But that didn't hurt as much as it did with her words. She honestly thought he could kill someone, or have someone killed?

Fitz looked straight into her eyes. "I never had anything to do with any death. Especially Amanda's. I was not going there. Does your gut say I killed her? Or had her killed? What does your gut say? Olivia, your gut is never wrong."

Liv thought about that. She trusted her gut but he made her mistrust it when he told her he never slept with her but he did. Olivia was defensive. Her gut told her he didn't do anything about Amanda but she wasn't sure. "If you didn't do it, then we both know who did. YOUR dragon breathed fire and killed a girl. YOUR dog got off the leash and killed a baby. No one blames the dog. This is on YOU. Amanda was in the river. They found her body and the unborn child in the river. YOU are responsible for this." Olivia forcefully removed her hands from his and walked away. Grabbing her purse she went out the door. She ignored Tom and Hal who attempted to greet her while she waited for the elevator but she never responded. When the elevator finally arrived she got in and was attempting to hold back her tears. "Gladiators don't cry," she reminded herself.

Fitz was stunned. She left him alone in the apartment. Her apartment. Cyrus did this. Fitzgerald knew that he himself had absolutely nothing to do with Amanda's death but that if she was a threat to his presidency, Cyrus would take care of it. Cyrus was the protector that Fitz had. He would do anything to protect the presidency. Fitz knew he had to fix this with Olivia. If his Livie was going to come back to him for good, this disaster had to be taken care of, fast. Fitz thought about what his next step should be. Should he go after Olivia or go after Cyrus? Cyrus was a friend but Olivia was his love. She would still be mad at him but he was determined to make her see that he didn't have anything to do with this event. After a few minutes Tom came in and reminded him that he needed to get to the White House. Deciding that there was nothing left for him in her apartment to do, Fitz left her a note and attached it to the bottle of wine in the fridge, and he knew she would see it there.

As Fitz rode to the White House he couldn't help but get even angrier with Cyrus. Cyrus never asked him what he thought he should do. And because of that Olivia was angry with Fitz. She was right though and he knew it. This was his fault. He should never have slept with Amanda. He should have gone after Olivia and divorced Mellie. They could have been happy by now. No matter if he was the President or not; they would be together and be happy.

When Fitz got to the Oval, he told Lauren to cancel all his meetings for the day and to get Cyrus in there now, no excuses. Fitz thought of all the possible ways to get rid of Cyrus. He could suspend him for a month after this incident. Fire him if he wanted to. He could even tell the police that it was Cyrus who planned the whole thing, but he had no prove.

Cyrus strutted into the Oval, irritated that he canceled the appointments for today. "You canceled everything today?" Cyrus had the 'obviously I know' voice on.

"You had Amanda Tanner killed?" Fitz said back with the same voice.

"Sir, I don't know what you're talking about. Amanda Tanner issue was taken care of."

"Apparently permanently. You had her body dumped in a river?"

Cyrus was a bit confused. "How would you know? I didn't do anything like that though. I never touched or had anyone touch Amanda. She was being taken care of by a different source. Did your mistress tell you I killed her?"

Fitz was pissed. "SHE NEVER WAS AND NEVER WILL BE MY MISTRESS! She's so much more than that. And yes she did tell me. Huck called her this morning. And a heads up by the way, Olivia is out for your blood. And knowing her, she's not just taking a pint. If you want out of her death list, you should figure out who did kill her and fast. Liv's got a plan in her head and she's going to go ahead with it."

"What do you mean she's going for me? She's smart but not enough to outwit me. I taught her everything she knows on how to execute."

"You are now her enemy. By proxy that means you're mine too. Figure out who did it. I don't have the energy to argue with everyone. Now spend the day fixing this or you're fired. Now get out."

Cyrus stood still a minute and then walked out. He tried to call Olivia but she sent him to voicemail 3 times. He called her once more and left her a message. "I'm not the enemy, and you can't be mine either. I have someone who would know who killed Amanda. I'll explain when you answer me. Call me back and we can settle this. Call me before 7 or I'm coming over." And with that he hung up. Cyrus knew who killed Amanda he just didn't know what he did with the body. Cyrus was a monster but not enough of a monster to hurt Olivia.

Fitz sat in the Oval all day. Mellie was gone to California for a trip on literacy for children. She wouldn't be back for another couple days so it was going to be peaceful around the White House. He thought about his life with Olivia. The things that he wanted to give her and the ways he wanted to show her he loved her. He was sure that she believed that he loved her. And he knew that she loved him, no matter how hard it was for her to admit it to him. She showed her love in her own Olivia Pope way. He sent her flowers to apologize for being an ass and not thinking of the consequences of his actions. He was going to call her but figured she'd call to give him a tongue lashing when she received the flowers.

Olivia was working hard all day to fix this Amanda issue. She ignored all the calls from Cyrus. Only answering the phone when her gladiators called. She received the flowers from Fitz and thought about throwing them away. She knew that he was sorry but sending flowers was not going to make up for letting the dog off the leash. Even though she knew there was no stopping Cyrus, Fitz should have been able to have a little control over him. No matter how much she wanted to forgive him, she wasn't sure yet. Olivia locked up her office after everyone left and was heading home for the night, it wasn't until 8 that she got home. When she stepped off the elevator and into the apartment, she saw Cyrus sitting on her couch with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"How the hell did you get in? You don't have a key." Olivia was a bit irritated that he was there. He knew that she was upset with him because Fitz had told him.

"The hidden key. It wasn't too hard to find. You never answered your phone and I told you I'd be coming over if you didn't answer."

"It was you, why would I answer the phone? I know what you did and I'm going to take you down for it, even if that means that I have to take him down too."

"Liv, you can't do that. He didn't do anything."

"The dragon breathed fire and it's his fault. You killed a girl because she was a threat to him. I don't know why I even thought it was him in the first place. Fitz wouldn't do something like that, but you sure would." By now, Olivia had dropped her purse and taken the glass of wine in her hand, downing it in a couple swallows. "You would do anything to protect him and I get that, I would to. But there are just some choices we have to let him make himself. Killing a girl he screwed is one of them. If he wanted her dead then she'd be dead because he said so, not because his Chief of Staff hired someone to kill her. Get your attorney ready Cy. I'm tired and going for the jugular. Now get out."

Cyrus sat on the couch and watched her intently. This was the Olivia he trained. She was going for blood but it shouldn't be his that she was going after. "It wasn't me, and I have proof to show you that it wasn't. I know who did because I was having her followed. It was by a trusted source. I paid him myself so there's no trace to Fitz. I've been having her followed since I knew she slept with him. Here." Cyrus handed Liv an envelope full of pictures. She opened them and saw that Amanda was actually being followed. There were a couple pictures of Amanda going into the hospital, one of her coming into Olivia's apartment and her office, even one of her and Olivia sitting in the park with the dog and Quinn standing behind her. But the more surprising ones were of Amanda and Billy Chambers screwing in the car, in Amanda's apartment, in a restraunt and even him carrying a rug out of her apartment with her wrapped in it and her head hanging out. "Fitz hasn't seen these yet. I was going to show him but I think this should come from you. I wasn't the one who killed her or had her killed. I was having her followed. She was a threat to him. My job is to protect him no matter the cost. I take my job very seriously."

"Who did you have following her?"

"Charlie." Olivia knew Charlie, Huck had mentioned him a couple times.

Olivia was so grateful to him for showing that both Cyrus and Fitz had nothing to do with Amanda's murder, that she sat down next to him and hugged him. "Thank you Cyrus. I… I didn't want Fitz to have any part of this, and I'm glad that you didn't either. I'll handle Billy."

"I wouldn't do anything that would hurt you Liv. Just like Fitz wouldn't. It's just that… sometimes we have to hurt someone to get the end game we want." He slightly hugged her back. "He left you a note." Cyrus handed Olivia the sticky note that Fitz had left on the bottle before he left that morning.

She took the note from him and read it. "I love you so much sweet baby. I did NOT hurt her or have anything done to her. I hope you can see that. Please don't leave me again. I'll fix this and we can be together. Be ready to make jam. Vermont awaits us… Love Fitz."


	3. Drunk

Fitz was serious when he said that he was going to fix things for him and Olivia. He needed to be with her. President or not, he was taking action. It was time to get his plan going and he was ready to deal with the dramatic effects of it. Fitz and Cyrus were working on the plan before but when Olivia had quit being the Communications Director they halted the plan.

He laid in bed in the private residence at the White House at 3 in the morning. His mind was wandering to Liv, of course. Her smile, her laugh, her touch, everything about her he missed. But mostly he missed her smile. They hadn't seen each other in a year before the previous night. Fitz hadn't seen her smile and that made him sad. His determination was to ensure that he made her smile soon, laugh if possible. He started to think about their life in Vermont and how perfect it would be, just because he would be with her.

While he was thinking of the many things revolving around Olivia, there was a knock on his bedroom door. The Secret Service Agent Daniel stood in front of the door when Fitz said to come in.

"Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you. But there's a woman at the front gate who says that she is, I quote, "ready to make jam". Personally I think she's a bit crazy, but she insists that she needs to talk to you. I'll have security send her away."

Fitz shot up out of bed when he said she was ready to make jam. "No, no Daniel have her come in. She is always welcome here. Anytime."

"Yes sir."

When Daniel closed the door, Fitz got up and walked over to his dresser. Pulling on a pair of silk pajama pants, he walked into the living room waiting for Liv to get up to the residence. When she finally appeared in the living room, Fitz noticed that she was nowhere close to walking straight. He couldn't resist laughing at her. Olivia Pope, his Livie, was never drunk. But tonight she was wasted. A glass of wine a night, sometimes a bottle, was all he knew she had.

"Fitzgerald Grant. What you laughing at?" Olivia started slurring her words but caught on quickly that he was laughing at her. "Stop laughing." Liv tried to regain her composure and have a serious talk with him.

"Livie, you're drunk. How did you get here anyway?"

"I drove of course. I can drive. I only had a few glasses of wine."

"How many is a few?"

"I'm not sure, I lost count after the third bottle. Cyrus left after the first bottle was gone. So technically I guess I had two and a half if I only had three but I could have had more than that. My apartment is full of wine so I'm sure I had more that I can't remember. Not that it matters, I was thinking and wanted wine so since I'm an adult I can have a drink or have as many drinks as I want. Either way. I had a few drinks at my place and was thinking about your note and everything else and then it just…"

"Liv you are babbling. What's going on? You shouldn't be drinking and driving. You can get hurt, or hurt someone else. Plus that's not very white hat of you. It's illegal to do that." Fitz was concerned that she was drinking and driving when she was obviously very intoxicated.

"Of all the illegal things I've done before that's what you're worried about? Wow, I thought it would have been about Defiance."

"I've known about that all along. I was pretty upset but I understand. We should have this conversation when you are sober. Do you even remember why you are here?" Fitz sat down and waited for Liv to answer.

"Oh, yeah I do. I um… oh I guess I just wanted to tell you… I can't remember Fitz."

He wasn't surprised about her memory. If she was this drunk, she probably didn't even remember what she just said. For the first time that night Fitz really looked at her. Her hair was a mess in an untidy bun that had strands of her hair falling out of it. She had two different shoes on, one white heel and one black flat. He noticed that she was wearing one of the t-shirts from the campaign that was too big on her. He wasn't even sure she was wearing shorts underneath. But no matter how un-put together she look, to him, she was always beautiful. He took another look over at her. Again, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Fitz, what's funny? I don't see anything funny." Fitz doubled over laughing.

"Livie, you look ridiculous. THE OLIVIA POPE LOOKS RIDICULOUS." He finally managed to get out. "Come on Liv, you can sleep here tonight. I'd have a driver take you but you should stay here."

Olivia didn't resist spending the night with him. He took her by the hand and led her to his room. He sat her on the edge of the bed after he pulled the covers back. He leaned down and took her odd shoes off and set them aside. He could smell the wine on her. It was coming out of her pours. But it smelled like a sweet smell to him. The smell of the wine and her; his favorite scent in the world. Fitz had gotten the Navy sweatshirt that he had that he knew she loved and replaced it with the one she had on. And like he guessed, Olivia had no shorts on. She drove from her apartment to the White house in nothing but a shirt. Luckily though, it was a quick trip and the shirt was big enough that it covered her completely. He reached behind her head and undid her hair knowing she liked to sleep with it down. He laid her back and covered her with the blankets. He had turned to leave the room but she grabbed his hand and motioned for him to stay with her. Without resistance, Fitz got in bed next to her and pulled her close to him.

"I'm sorry Fitz."

Fitz wasn't sure what she was apologizing for. "Good night sweet baby."

Fitz woke up early that morning, still holding Olivia close to him. He very carefully let himself get free of her and made sure to close the drapes. She was pretty drunk last night and he didn't want anything to wake her. He grabbed his jeans and a shirt and walked down to the Oval. Lauren had told him that Cyrus was waiting in the office for him. When he walked in Cyrus was lying on the couch looking rather pale.

"Morning Cyrus. You look like hell."

"Morning Fitz," Cyrus mumbled. "I know, I had a night."

"So did Liv. Sounds like you two had a party without me."

Cyrus sat up and looked at him. "You talked to her?"

"Not really. She wasn't quiet in the capable mind to talk. I'm not even sure why she came over but at least she's safe."

"She's here? She wasn't going to say anything for a bit I thought. Where is she?"

"She's in bed upstairs. She said you left after the first bottle but couldn't remember how many she had."

"Ha, she's wrong, I left after the third bottle."

"Great, no wonder she's so drunk, she said she had three after you left. She had six bottles of wine! Whatever the hell you two talked about must have been important. I've never seen her this way. She got blocked at the gate and demanded to see me. See how well that went. Cy you look like hell. Go home for the day. There's only a late lunch with Sally today, I can handle that. Go rest up and come back tomorrow."

If Cyrus didn't feel like he was going to explode at the slightest sound, he would have argued. "Thanks Fitz, I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Liv it's going to be fine."

Fitz told Lauren to make sure his schedule was clear for the morning until Sally was ready for lunch. He went upstairs and got a bucket and some Advil for Liv when she woke up. If she was drinking that much last night she was bound to have a headache this morning. When Fitz got up to the bedroom, Liv was already missing from where he left her. He called out for her and heard her throwing up in the bathroom. He ran in to her and held her hair back. After a few minutes she stopped and turned around sitting on the floor.

"What time did I get here?" She tried to figure out the time frame of last night.

"Around 3. Cyrus said he left after the third bottle, so you are pretty hung over. Not that I mind." He sat down next to her and kissed her temple. "Do you know why you came over?"

"Did I tell you why?"

"No, you couldn't form a sentence. You just told me to stop laughing at you. You were so cute."

"Then it's good I didn't tell you. And laughing at me is not a good thing for anyone Fitz. You of all people should know that."

"Olivia, you had no pants on and had on two different shoes. Please don't keep secrets from me. If it involves me, I think I should know. Is it about Defiance?"

Liv was shocked that he knew. "How do you know about that? We agreed that you would never know."

"Verna, I've known all along. It's alright, I'm…"

"You hate me now," she interrupted him. "I didn't want to do it. I wanted you to win alone. It's just that you were so close but we needed a few more. I'm sorry Fitz. I understand if you don't want to be with me now. I don't blame you."

"Are you done with your little pity party?" Fitz waited for her to stop and look at him. When she didn't you took hold of her face and made sure that she was looking at him. "I don't hate you. I couldn't hate you. Nothing you ever do could make me hate you. I might be angry with you but I will never hate you. I forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago when Verna told me what was going on. There's nothing you can do that I would never forgive. I love you too much to ever hate you. You own my heart and I love you. So no matter what you ever do, I will never hate you. Please believe that, if you believe nothing else I tell you." Forgetting about her headache and the fact that she just threw up, Liv leaned in and kissed him. But Fitz didn't care about any of that, he kissed her back. They pulled away from each other.

"Sorry, I forgot. That was probably awful. Let me get freshened up and I'll be right out. I promise, I'm not leaving this time. Unless you make me."

"Sweet baby, I could never make you leave. I'll get the chef to make some breakfast, anything you want?"

"Scrambled eggs are good. Thank you." Fitz gave her a hug and left the room.

About an hour later, Olivia came out into the kitchen and sat down. All dressed and ready to conquer the day. Magically Fitz had sent for an agent to get Liv some clothes from her apartment.

"You didn't have to send for anything at the apartment Fitz. I was fine with what I was wearing. Except the pants of course."

"Well, I figured you needed some clothes and you would definitely need clothes if you and I are going to have a chat. Now, do you remember why you came over last night? No secrets Liv, let's get it all out." Fitz knew the conversation was going to be a bad one if she was coming over in the early morning demanding to see him.

"I read your note. I want to make jam. I'm ready to make this work. But I need you to know everything."

"I'm listening. We're going to make this work but I want to take you somewhere first, leave. We have people who depend on us. So we can't leave for long."

"Just for a day or two. I really want to show this to you. I think you're going to love it."

"Alright, where to?"

"Vermont."


	4. Vermont

The house was beautiful. Just the way that Olivia always pictured the place she and Fitz would live. And of course, there was plenty of room to make jam. They arrived in the late afternoon a couple days later. Olivia had a doctor's appointment and Fitz needed to finish some things at the White House before they could leave for the weekend. Olivia knew it was time to tell Fitz something extremely important. But as much as she knew him, she wasn't a hundred percent sure how his reaction would be.

Liv stood on the patio out back enjoying the fall view of the trees in the orchard changing colors. She thought of ways to explain to him the things that had happened since their last meet. So much had happened that he needed to know about and she knew he needed to hear it straight from her. Cyrus found out by accident when it happened but she made him promise not to say anything to Fitz. So far he kept his promise but he was growing tired of trying to keep it to himself and threatened Olivia. Either she told him soon or he was going to tell Fitz himself and that was something she did not want to happen.

"Livie? Are you alright?" Fitz snuck up behind her with two cups of hot chocolate. It was cooler outside than normal, needing a sweater to actually be comfortable.

She turned around to him. "I'll be fine. I think we should start that discussion now." Olivia was nervous of how this would go, but he needed to know before someone else told him.

They sat in the living room across from each other, waiting to see who would speak first. "Liv, there's something I need to tell you but you won't like it. I'm so sorry for that too. I need you and I want you to listen to me completely before you run again. And I'm sure you will. This time though, I won't stop you if that's what you want. But please, just know that I love you more than anything in the world." She knew that if he was babbling this much, it had to be big and she wasn't going to like it at all. "Mellie and I discussed divorcing a few months ago. I was going to divorce her and come find you. I will always find you. No matter how long it takes, I will find you. Even if you just want to slam the door in my face again, I will find you. I had brought the divorce papers to her and we got into a screaming match. She was adamant that she wasn't going to divorce me and you know how stubborn she is." It was true, Olivia did know. Mellie was almost as stubborn as she was. She nodded and waited for him to continue. "Cyrus heard everything and tried to make me see reason but I wouldn't listen. I got annoyed with both of them and started in on the scotch. I was almost as drunk as you were the other night. I couldn't think straight and I wasn't in the right mind for good judgment." Liv waited for him to say it, she knew that this was the part that he had screwed Amanda but she didn't want to interrupt him. "I had gone to bed and woke up a bit later, or at least was in a conscious state that I remember. I don't want to remember though, but it's clear that I do." Fitz waited a moment for any response from her, but he never got one. "When I woke up I was inside her. It wasn't Amanda."

"You fucked another one! MY GOD FITZ! How many have you screwed while we weren't together?" Liv was upset at this. He said he only slept with Amanda once. And she believed him but she was starting to think that if he made her mistrust her gut once, he'd be able to do it again.

"It was Mellie." Fitz watched her eyes go from curious to confusion to what he thought would be hated.

Olivia knew he wasn't getting anything from Mellie in that department of their marriage for a long time. Maybe she just really needed him at that time. She looked down at her hands and started to say the next part. "Well, she is your wife. I can't blame you for sleeping with her. Or her with you. You are married and it's only natural for the two of you to have sex. I can't be upset with that." Olivia sat there a moment. "Fitz, I'm not sure what else you want me to say. I can't forgive you for something that I can't be mad about. You shouldn't be guilty either."

"Mellie's pregnant."

"Oh." Liv sat there trying to calm down her anger. But she remembered that she had no right to be angry. They were married and they would be having children together. More than the two they already had if she was able to. She wanted to yell but there's no point, it wouldn't make her feel any better. He had got Mellie pregnant and there's nothing she can do about that. Liv leaned forward and put her head in her hands. "When is she announcing?"

"We'll be doing a joint interview with James when she gets back. She's going to be showing soon. She's four months now." He regretted immediately that he almost sounded happy about that. Especially since Olivia picked up on the tone. "I just wish it was with you and not her."

"I know you love kids Fitz," she grit her teeth and tried to sound sincere when she added "congratulations on the new baby. You deserve it."

Her tone was sending shivers done his spine. That icy, cold, furious voice she used when she only wanted to use sarcasm was a voice he never thought he would hear directed at him. "Livie, I love you. I wanted this to be with you. I screwed up. Again. I'm sorry, I can't change that. I want to so badly but it's my child."

Olivia started remembering everything he said at her apartment. "You knew she was pregnant the other day when you showed up. You still wanted me even though she's pregnant with your child. You were going to leave her and be with me?"

"Not were, I am. I am leaving her to be with you. I just want to know if you'll still be there for me. I need you with me Liv. I can't do anything without you."

"Well, you did, you got at least one woman pregnant. You didn't need my help with that. You screwed an aid. You didn't need my help with that." Liv got up and headed towards their room and got her suitcase.

"Livie, please don't go now. I need you here. More than anything I need you period. You can save me from all of it. I need to be with you and not with her. Just because she's pregnant with my child doesn't mean I can't divorce her."

"Actually it does, she won't agree to a divorce. If you divorce her and fight it out, it will take your entire presidency. You won't be able to accomplish the great things that this country needs because you'll be too busy fighting in litigation with her over the ranch, or the kids, or her roles as First Lady. Not to mention, your ratings will drop and the people will stop believing that you are the President that they voted for because you won't have got a damn thing done in Congress. Your presidency is important to you and I'm not going to stand in the way of that. You and she will have to just keep your distance from each other and deal with it. I'm not blaming you. I understand that you had the need to screw your wife."

Fitz didn't know how to respond to her. She couldn't actually think that he wanted to be screwing Mellie. That part of the marriage was long gone and he didn't want it back. He wanted Olivia. That's all he ever wanted since he met her. "Olivia please, I don't care about my presidency. I want you. I will divorce her and I'm going to marry you. We're going to be together even if she drags my name through the mud. As long as I'm with you I don't really care."

"Don't say you don't care, because you do. I know you Fitzgerald. You worked so hard on the campaign to get to that house to make America better. You care just as much as I do."

"Olivia. I told you before, many times. I'll give it all up for you. All I want is to be with you." Fitz held tight to her, physically trying to keep her with him. "I'll divorce her to be with you."

She pushed him away and headed to the front door where Tom would be waiting to take her anywhere she wanted. "Let's be honest Fitz, if you really wanted to be with me, if you wanted to make Vermont happen, you would have divorced her already." And with that Olivia walked out the door and to the car.


	5. Disappearing

It had been a month since Olivia walked out on Fitz. Each day he called her but she never answered. He had asked Cyrus about her but Cyrus had told him that she was ok but she'd been better. Cyrus never told him how she really was.

One night after Fitz had done his daily lecture about missing Olivia, Cyrus had had enough and gone over to her apartment.

"Either you tell him or I will," he said when she opened the door. Olivia was in her white silk pajamas holding a glass of wine when she heard him knock.

"You promised not to tell. You cannot tell him. I don't want him to know. There's no reason for him to anyway. She's pregnant and he should be thinking about her and the baby not about me," Liv let him walk in and sit down while she got a glass for him. "He has no reason to know. He has no right."

"Olivia, he needs to know. He asks me every day sometimes five times a day about you. He loves you. He calls you the love of his life and he needs to know. You would want to know if it was reversed."

She sat back on the couch and finished her wine. As much as she hated it, she knew he was right. Fitz did need to know what was going on. "It will just distract him from his job and he needs to focus on that. He shouldn't be worrying about me or anything involving me. You'll just have to deal with it Cyrus."

"Olivia Carolyn Pope, I am giving you exactly 72 hours to tell him or I will and I will tell him every little detail about it that I know. You can't keep hiding this from him. Eventually, he is going to find out and it should be from you. The damage will be high but you can repair it with him." Cyrus thought about telling Olivia about the plan he made with Fitz. It did involve her and it would give her something to look forward to. "We came up with a plan."

"You couldn't come up with a bulletproof plan if your life depended on it."

"We're going to get him in the high polls for the first term. He's going to pass several laws that will help people to get him to vote for him in the second race. But before he ends the first term, he's going to divorce her." Olivia listened and thought of the ways that all of that could go wrong and was going to say something but Cyrus continued. "We both know that she will drag it out and will make it so he can't win the second election. But we have a plan. He wasn't going to be nice about anything. He was going to have it leaked that she had a fake pregnancy and a fake miscarriage. He was going to be with you. And he's determined to still be. I'm not enough Liv. He needs you the most. He can't live without you and you can't either."

"Cy, please. I'm… I'll tell him when I'm ready. I promise I will. Just not yet."

Cyrus got up and headed to the door. "72 hours or I'm telling him. I'm doing this for your own good Liv. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

After Cyrus left Olivia headed off to bed and thought of every way that she can tell Fitz. She knew that she would want to know if the situation was reversed.

When Olivia got up the next morning she headed off to OPA to get everything ready for the day. They had a few appointments and clean up to do. It was a simple day if nothing went wrong.

As Cyrus arrived at his office at the White House, Fitz was already waiting for him.

"Good morning Sir. What can I do for you today?"

"You saw her last night. How is she really?"

"Fitz, you better not be having me followed. I can't take that."

"I called your house last night. But James answered the phone; he said you were at her place. Answer the question, how is she? And the truth Cy."

"She'll talk to you soon. I promise that she will. She has to talk to you."

"Please Cy. If something is wrong with her I need to know. What's going on?"

"When she gets here, you can ask her. Three days. She's going to be her within three days. She's very busy."

It had been a whole week since anyone had heard from Olivia. She hadn't called any of the gladiators, Cyrus, or Fitz. It seemed that she had just disappeared. Disappearing was something that Olivia never did. When Fitz told Cyrus that she still hadn't been to see him, Cyrus went to her apartment but she never answered. He called Harrison, Quinn, Abby, and Huck but no one had seen her, or at least they weren't saying they had. On day five of missing Olivia, Cyrus had gone to OPA to talk to them.

"You're her people. You have to know, she tells you everything," Cyrus started yelling.

"She never told us. She came in last week and set us up with the appointments but she didn't say where she was going or anything," Abby told him.

"Cyrus if we knew, we'd tell you," Harrison said.

Cyrus walked over to Huck who was standing in the corner. "You always know where she is, say something." Huck didn't say anything. "He's going to come looking for her and he's going to pull out everything he can. He won't stop until he finds her."

"We've already started looking for her. We don't know where she went. Some of the clients are also looking for her. They need her help and are helping us locate her," Quinn replied.

"Then I'll help you. I'll tell him what's happened and he'll send in the National Guard, the air force, army, navy, FBI, CIA, and any other agency that he can think of. Fitz is going to find her if you don't and you don't want that to happen," Cyrus added.

"We're going to find her. I promise," Abby said to him. "Let us do our job and we'll find her."

"Do it fast." Cyrus walked out of OPA. He was worried about Olivia. She never disappeared. Cyrus thought of every place that she could be and only came to the one conclusion: it was time to tell Fitz.

Fitz was sitting in the Oval going over the daily report. But he couldn't focus enough to read it and actually understand. His mind was going back to Olivia again. He should have told Olivia the moment she came back into his life. He never should have slept with Amanda or Mellie again. He reasoned that as long as she didn't find out, he wouldn't feel guilty. That reason was wrong. No matter how he tried to reason it, he felt guilty. His thoughts were interrupted when Cyrus came into the office.

"I need to tell you something but I can't tell you everything. I'm going to need your presidential pull for this and I don't need many questions okay?" Cyrus sat down in the chair next to Fitz's desk.

"If James wants another baby, I can't help you," Fitz responded.

"James is fine with Ella. It's Olivia," Cyrus caught his attention. Fitz set down his papers and gave Cy his full attention. "I honestly cannot tell you everything."

"What's going on with Olivia? I knew something was wrong. Tell me Cy."

"She's missing. I haven't heard from her in a week, no one has. She just disappeared last week. None of her people have heard from her."

"You've checked her apartment?"

Cyrus had to laugh. "Where do you think the first place we looked was? She's not at her apartment, or OPA, or the pool. We've thought of every place that she could be. We've called every hospital in the area and she's not here. Huck's tracked her credit card and there's been no activity on it since a couple days before she left."

Fitz started to get worried but he had an idea where she might be. He yelled for Lauren to come in. "Get Marine One ready to go. I want to leave in twenty minutes."

"Yes sir," Lauren replied.

"You know where she is? Where the hell is she?" Cyrus screamed.

"I have an idea. I think I know where she is. I'll be back later tonight." Fitz walked out to the Rose Garden and waited for Marine One to land.

When he walked onto Marine One, Fitz told the pilot to land in Vermont. On the plane he couldn't help but think that where she would be. He hoped that she was there in Vermont at the house. If she was there, he'd be able to talk to her again. He'd be able to apologize to her again and they could kiss and make up.

The pilot landed in the back yard at the house. Fitz ran into the house searching through every room looking for her. He yelled her name and no one answered. He searched everywhere on the grounds for her. When he sat there on the couch and called Cyrus.

"She's not here Cy. Call in the David. Have him put her picture through the facial recognition program and find her. I'll be back soon."

"Sir, can I ask where you went?"

"Just know that she isn't here. Tell David to do it now." Fitz hung up and went back to Marine One.

While Fitz was on the plane Cyrus had gone to David's office. David did exactly as Fitz asked but they still couldn't find her. She didn't show up in any public record. Cyrus told him to go back a few days and look through those recordings. Suddenly, David's computer dinged.

"The program found her heading out of D.C. last Tuesday. She's alone in the car so she hasn't been kidnapped or anything. Cyrus, she probably just went on a vacation and didn't think it was important to tell anyone. When you're Olivia Pope you might need a break. She can't wear the white hat every day," David told him.

"Which way was she heading?"

"North but she could be going anywhere. Give the woman a break; she'll come back when she is ready. I'm sure she's fine."

Cyrus hung up with David and called Fitz.

"You found her," Fitz said when he answered.

"Last Tuesday, she's not in D.C. anymore," Cyrus responded.

"That was eight days ago! Olivia's been missing for eight days and I'm just now hearing about this!" Fitz was screaming in his ear. He should have known that she was gone before she even left.

Cyrus was starting to blame himself. He should have gone looking for her when she didn't come to the White House after their three day agreement. She didn't need any stress and he knew that. Cyrus knew that she couldn't be under any stress. All she had to was tell him she was leaving and he would understand. Then Cy thought about their agreement. Olivia hadn't really agreed to the three days. That's probably why she left not even twenty-four hours after he left her apartment.

"Fitz, I'm sorry. We're going to find her. She's going to be fine, she's going to be alive and we'll bring her back to us," Cyrus was starting to worry even more. He knew Olivia needed to be back in D.C. and quick before something went wrong.

When Fitz landed back at the White House, he went to Cyrus' office. When he got there Cyrus was on the phone leaving her a message, but Cyrus never heard him walk in.

"Olivia, come home please. It's all going to be okay, I promise. We're all here for you and we're going to help you through this. You don't have to go through it alone. Come back and we'll tell him together. Olivia Carolyn Pope does not run away, she faces the problem. You're a gladiator, gladiators don't get to run. Come home, Liv." Cyrus hung up and turned to see Fitz sitting in a chair in front of his desk.

"What the hell is going on with Olivia, Cyrus? Tell me now. I demand to know," Fitz was upset that he and Liv were hiding secrets from him. "Where is Olivia Pope?"

"She's at Camp David."


	6. Ill

"She's at Camp David," both Cyrus and Fitz turned around and looked at the door. Tom stood in the doorway dressed in uniform.

"How do you know, Tom? You've been on vacation for since Friday," Fitz asked.

"Security at Camp David just called. Ms. Pope's been there since early Tuesday afternoon. Apparently, she just walked right in," Tom told them.

"Sir, I'll get Marine One ready again."

Cyrus called for the pilot again while Fitz ran down the halls. What would Olivia be doing at Camp David? That would be the last place to even think about looking for her. And that's how she wanted it. She didn't want to be found and Camp David would be the perfect place to hide for a bit. Fitz landed fifteen minutes later in the yard at the camp. When he stepped off he was greeted by two security men who worked on the grounds.

"Good evening Mr. President, your cabin is ready for you. We had the maids prepare your room when we heard you were coming Sir," the taller brown haired man said.

"Thank you, where is Ms. Pope?"

"Sir, she is in the cabin at the end of the property," said the second.

"Thank you gentlemen, I'll be down there. No interruptions." Fitz fast walked down to her cabin. When he arrived at the door, he tried to turn the knob but it was locked. He tried to remain calm and not get angry. He knocked a couple times. "Livie, please answer the door." Fitz waited a few more minutes and knocked again. "Liv. Let me in please." He was starting to get irritated. He turned back to his security detail. "Where's the key?" Tom radioed for a guard to bring the key to the cabin and unlock the door. It took a few minutes for a guard to come down. The guard opened the door and Fitz walked in.

Fitz knew this cabin very well. It was the cabin that he and Olivia had shared each time that they visited Camp David. He looked around in the kitchen and dining room. "Liv," he called out for her. He went up to the second floor and found her in the bathroom hovered over the toilet throwing up. Before he could step even closer to her Cyrus had ran in to meet her.

Cyrus pulled her hair back and saw she was puking blood. Fitz saw it too and stood frozen not sure what to do. "How long have you been throwing up Liv?" Cyrus asked her.

She heaved again and told him an hour. Cyrus looked back at Fitz. "Don't just stand there you twit, call an ambulance." They both pulled their cell phones out. Fitz called for an ambulance and Cyrus called Olivia's doctor. "It's blood again… she says an hour…we'll be there soon…alright meet us there." Cyrus hung up the phone and got Olivia's jacket. "It's going to be alright Liv. We'll go to the hospital and you'll be fine." He turned to Fitz again, the look he saw was one of worry, sadness, sickness. Fitz was about to say something but Cyrus interrupted. "We'll explain later. We have to go now."

Olivia looked up at Cyrus and gave him a knowing look. "My bag's in the closet," she told him.

Cyrus went over to Fitz and held his shoulders. "Keep it together for her. You can lose it later with me when she isn't here. I'm going to get her bag, she's not going to be able to make it down the stairs, get Tom to pick her up and take her down to Marine One, and we'll get to the hospital faster that way." Fitz stood still a moment. "Fitz, we have to go. Get Tom now."

Cyrus went to the closet and got her bag. He went back to the bathroom but Fitz was walking out of the bathroom, carrying Olivia in his arms.

Marine One landed on the hospital pad ten minutes later. Olivia's doctor, Henry Rain, met them at the helipad. "She said she was throwing up for an hour, there's a lot of blood but not as much as last time," Cyrus informed the doctor.

"She's going to be alright, we'll take her downstairs and handle this," Dr. Rain said. Dr. Rain took Olivia on a gurney down the elevator to the ICU. Secret Service was all over the hospital before Fitz arrived. "Sir, we have a private waiting room for you to use on the same floor."

"I'm not leaving her," Fitz scolded.

"Fitz, you can't go in with her. She'll be alright. Let's go down to the waiting room and get some coffee. There's nothing to do but wait for now. We'll be able to see her in a bit," Cyrus told him. Fitz nodded and went down with him to the waiting room. Tom brought them both some coffee.

"How is she?" James asked when he arrived. Cyrus had called him on the way there.

"It's not as much as last time. But it could have been going on for days. She's been gone for eight days so no one knows what the hell has been going on," Cyrus said.

Fitz stood up and demanded their attention. "What the FUCK is going on!" He seemed to be breathing fire at both Cyrus and James. "What do you mean 'last time'? Why is she heaving blood? Damn it Cyrus, I demand answers now!"

James walked over to Fitz, "I'm sorry Fitz; we tried to tell her she needed to tell you. But she didn't believe us. She said she would handle it and tell you when necessary. She's going to be fine, I promise."

"She's heaving blood! How is she going to be fine? What is happening to her?" Fitz grew tired of the charade they were playing. He just wanted some straight answers to his questions.

Cyrus opened his mouth to answer but Dr. Rain came in. "She's awake; she wants to see you Cy. You too, James." Fitz walked up to the doctor. "I'm sorry Mr. President; I can't let you in to see her."

"I am the President of the United States. She has to see me."

"Go on in James, I'll be right there," Cyrus told him. "Thank you Dr. Rain, I'll be there soon." He let the doctor out of the waiting room and sat with Fitz a few minutes. "I'm going to let her explain it, sooner than later. She is going to tell you when she's ready. I'll make sure of it. Stay here, I'll have Tom get you some more coffee and I'll go talk to her."

"I can't lose her Cy, I love her too much."

"I know you do Sir. And in her own way, she loves you too."

Olivia sat up in the bed attached to a heart monitor. "I'm not telling him. He doesn't need to know about this. It's not his problem. He has a country to run. Let him do his job." Olivia was determined not to tell Fitz about the situation she was in.

"You have to tell him Liv, he saw what you were doing. Why did you go up to Camp David anyway?" James asked her.

"Good question. Of all places for you to go, why the hell did you go to Camp David?" Cyrus asked when he came in. "You've been gone for eight days. You were there the entire time?"

"I drove around for a day. I know I left on Tuesday morning. And I got to Camp David on Wednesday afternoon. What day is it?" she asked.

"Thursday, a week later. I had to tell him you were gone, Liv. When I told him that you were gone he thought that he knew where you were. He called for Marine One to take him somewhere. He swore that you'd be there," Cyrus informed her.

"He went to Vermont," she mumbled.

"What the hell is in Vermont that you would be there?" Cyrus wasn't sure what was so important in Vermont. He'd seen a few papers on Fitz's desk about Vermont but never asked him about it.

"It's nothing Cyrus. Not anything to worry about," Olivia told him.

James looked at the clock. "I'm sorry, Liv. I have to get Ella from the sitters. I'll come over tomorrow and see you. Call before you go to bed?"

"Of course James, give Ella a kiss for me," Olivia hugged James and looked out the window. James left Cyrus and Liv in the hospital room alone. "I won't tell him Cy."

"He saw you throwing up blood Liv. He's asking questions that I have answers to but out of pure courtesy to you, I haven't said anything to him. I can't keep this from him any longer. I love you, Liv. I need you to tell him," Cyrus pleaded with her.

She looked straight at Cyrus who sat on the edge of her bed. "His ratings are good. He hasn't had a public scandal. If he finds out, he's going to worry about me. If he worries about me, his ratings will drop. If his ratings drop, he's capable of being impeached for not being a proper President. If he gets impeached, Sally becomes President. If Sally becomes President, we lose and it all was for nothing. He's known about Defiance since it started, he forgave us for that. He won't forgive me for this. His wife is pregnant with his third child and he needs to be focused on her."

Cyrus took in a long breath. "This was not your fault. It just happened. Unfortunately, it happened to someone who doesn't deserve it. I know it sucks, big time. But you need to be a gladiator and push through it. You can't hide from it, wear the white hat and face it head on. Our plan is going to work and he's going to make you his First Lady. Believe me, Liv. This is a good thing. The two of you will get through this together. You can do anything with him. And the same with him. Just give him a chance."

"On your way out, send in Tom please," Cyrus got up and headed to the door. "Thank you Cyrus, I know it wasn't easy for you to keep it from him this long."

"No problem kiddo. Just get better okay?" Olivia nodded and leaned back. "Call James before you go to bed or he'll call you at 3 in the morning."

After Cyrus was gone a few minutes, Tom came in. "Ms. Pope, are you feeling okay?"

"I've been better Tom. Thank you for asking. How's he doing?" Olivia was concerned that he might be causing trouble out there. That's the last thing she needed. She did not need a mess made by him that she would have to clean up.

"He's worried about you. A bit upset that no one is giving him answers but worried more than anything. He insists on seeing you though. Mr. Beene is trying to get him to go at least back to the White House and change."

"And he won't go. He's being stubborn and he'll start throwing a fit any minute if he doesn't get his way. I know the routine. Thank you Tom, I'll handle it."

"You shouldn't be handling anything from a hospital bed. Shall I send him in?"

Olivia thought for a few minutes. "No Tom. He'll be upset about it. But just tell Dr. Rain I said no visitors for a bit. I just want to take a nap. Please tell the President to go home and do the same. He needs his sleep when he has a country to run."

"Yes ma'am. Have a nice nap." Tom walked out into the waiting room back with Fitz. He saw Fitz's face getting redder with anger.

"I AM THE PRESIDENT. I WILL GO WHERE I WANT, WHEN I WANT. DO NOT TRY TO STOP ME." Fitz was yelling at Dr. Rain. He was going to push his way into Olivia's room if he had to physically remove the people standing in his way himself.

"I understand, Sir. She's just very tired and I will not have you upsetting my patient. She's very weak right now and doesn't need the stress that you will cause her," Dr. Rain tried to reason with him.

"I'm not going to cause her any stress. And apparently, you don't know Olivia Pope. She is never weak. I don't even understand why she is your patient. Why is she even anyone's patient?"

"Sir, I am truly sorry. I am not at liberty to say. Doctor/patient confidentiality. If Ms. Pope wants you to know, she will inform you," Dr. Rain concluded and walked away, leaving Tom with Fitz.

Fitz went to sit down in the most uncomfortable chair that was ever made. "How is she Tom?" He was getting antsy with no answers.

"She's taking a nap, Sir. She asks that you go home and do the same. She's not taking any more visitors right now," Tom knew the last part would be what got to Fitz the most.

Fitz sat back in the chair and took a drink of his coffee. "Fine then, I'll wait. She can't refuse to see me forever. If that means that I have to sit here for days, then so be it. She WILL see me. Have a seat Tom; it's going to be a late night."


	7. Sickness

Olivia woke up later from her nap. She looked out the window and saw it was pure black out. She glanced at the clock next to her and saw it was two in the morning. When she flipped on the bedside lamp next to her, she noticed that a man in a black suit was standing outside the door to her room.

"Great, secret service is here," she thought. The man noticed the light on and gently opened the door.

"Good morning Ms. Pope, how are you feeling?" Olivia recognized his voice. It was Daniel, one of the only two men that Fitz trusted with her. "Can I get you anything?"

Liv sat up and attempted to get more comfortable. "Morning Daniel, could you get me some water please?" Daniel poured her a glass of water and handed it to her. "I take it that he is still here then."

"Yes ma'am. He refuses to leave until he speaks with you. Even the First Lady has tried to get him to go back to the White House but he is insistent on staying put," Daniel told her.

"Has Mellie been here?" Daniel shook his head no. "Has he slept at all?" He shook his head no again. "What's he been doing out there then?"

Daniel smirked and replied to her. "He actually asked 'What would Olivia do?'" Liv sat back and listened to Daniel, awaiting a response to the question. "The President has turned the waiting room into his office. He's had a couple of meetings in the waiting area already. Mr. Beene was not happy about it. The Joint Chiefs meeting had to be held in a conference room down the hall. The doctors are not very pleased with the situation since Secret Service has cleared this entire floor. Dr. Rain won't let him down towards your room so he asked me to stand guard. Ma'am, he's been awake for sixteen hours and he's going to crash soon if he hasn't already. Tom says he's gotten even moodier than before and if barking orders at everyone. He's very worried about you."

"Thank you, Daniel." He asked if there was anything that she wanted him to know, and that he would pass the message himself. "No thanks. He's going to have to live with the fact that he just can't be in my live anymore. It's for his own good."

"Yes ma'am." Daniel walked back into the hallway and saw that Fitz was standing at the end of the hall towards Olivia's room, arguing with the nurse that he needed to get back there. Daniel had gone in to intervene and tell him she was alright. "Sir, she is awake. If she wasn't lying back in a hospital bed, I would say she looks like herself."

"Did she say anything to you?" Fitz hoped that Olivia gave him a message. Something to say that she was fine and they would talk soon.

"She told me something, but I'm not exactly sure if I was supposed to tell you, Sir."

Fitz knew this could not be good. "Whether you were supposed to or not, you will tell me now Daniel."

"Ms. Pope only said that you would have to deal with not being in her live anymore. That is was for your own good." Daniel held Fitz up before he collapsed to the floor. His emotions got the best of him and it hit him like a brick wall.

What does she mean that he couldn't be in her life? It wasn't for his own good if they couldn't be together. Fitz thought of everything he had done to make Olivia not want to be with him. He chose the presidency over her, he chose Mellie and not her, and he slept with Amanda and not her. It tore at him that she wouldn't let him explain anything. Or that he had a different plan and was taking action at that very moment. Fitz stood straight and smoothed the wrinkles out of his jacket. He motioned for Tom to come over.

"Yes, Sir?"

"You go tell her, that she has exactly one hour to agree to speak with me or I will go to the White House and get in front of the Press and tell the entire world that I have been having an affair with Olivia Carolyn Pope for the past three years. You are to stay in that room with her until the clock has run out or she talks to me." Fitz knew he was playing dirty and playing with the master of the game, but he didn't care. It was time for an ultimatum. He didn't have time to fight with her, worry about her, and run the country.

Tom went back to Olivia's room and explained what Fitz told him.

"He wouldn't do it. He's bluffing. It would ruin him and every chance he had at reelection. There's no way he's being serious," Olivia said.

"Ms. Pope, he called for a press conference right before I came back here. He's called in Cyrus at three in the morning to come here and work. The President is extremely serious. I don't know what's going on with you, but it's time to fess up to whatever is going on. He's going to put your name on the front page of every newspaper, magazine, tabloid, and website. You have to tell him something." Olivia knew Tom was right. If he was bluffing, he never would have called in Cyrus or called for a press conference.

"Fine, give me ten minutes to think and he can come in. He's being a stubborn, spoilt, brat though," Olivia had to think of her endgame. What did she want him to know? Or not know? She didn't want him to know the truth but he's going to find out eventually. It was time to put on the white hat and come up with every card possible to play.

Tom sat with her for the ten minutes she requested. "I'll go get him ma'am." He walked out and went to Fitz. "She's ready to speak to you. But please, she's still tired. Even though she won't admit it, you can see that she is. Dr. Rain demands that you both stay calm and don't get into too much of a heated argument. But she does ask that before you go in, Mr. President, that she talks to Mr. Beene."

Cyrus was drinking his third cup of coffee in the corner and came over when Tom arrived. "It won't take long Fitz. We'll talk and she'll talk to you. Stay calm. Everything will be alright." Fitz agreed and let Cyrus back. He went back to her room and sat down. "I've had enough of this charade. Each time you don't talk to him, I get called into the principal's office and get in trouble. You tell him now, tonight. I can't have you being front page news but noon. I'm getting too old to clean up both your messes and all of that."

Liv took his hand and assured him to relax. "I'm going to tell him, at least most of it. I'm still angry with him. You would be too. I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate everything you've done to help me. Both you and James have helped me so much."

"We couldn't not help you Liv. You are like my kid and I'd do anything for you."

"You're getting soft."

"It's the heart attack. And don't tell anybody."

Cyrus walked out and into the waiting room. He didn't say anything to Fitz. Fitz went back to Liv's room and knocked on the door then popped his head in.

"I can finally come in?" She could hear the tone he was using. He wasn't happy that she kept him waiting. She nodded for him to come in so he stepped in and closed the door. Fitz turned on the overhead light and took in the sight of her. Olivia's hair was a mess, like she hadn't brushed it in a couple days. She looked like her she hadn't slept in a week with the bags under her eyes. Olivia just looked so small in the bed, so fragile. She didn't look like the Olivia Pope he knew; she didn't look like his Livie. Olivia crossed her arms while he stared at her. "Will you please tell me what's going on?"

"Will you tell me why I've been being followed?" Fitz sat down next to her on the bed. He started to attempt to explain but she interrupted. "Don't even try to deny it, I know you've had Secret Service following me since before Vermont. You've probably been having me followed since I left the White House last year but they've just been getting sloppy lately."

"I just needed to know that you were okay. If you aren't okay, then I won't be either. They didn't tell me anything unless it was completely off. I swear. I can have Cyrus get you the file and he can show you everything. But that's not about this. I need to know what's going on. Why are you throwing up blood and this isn't the first time?"

Liv pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "I honestly don't see why you care. Your wife is pregnant, again. What's going on with me has nothing to do with you, Fitz. There's nothing you can do about it anyway."

"Don't say that. Everything you do has something to do with me. I care about you. I love you. I may not be the best fixer in the country but I have learned some of her lessons. And if we're going to throw the word 'wife' out there, then you need to know that I served her with divorce papers when you left Vermont. What you said really bothered me. You said that if I really wanted you I would have done something already. And I'm sorry about that. My lawyers and I had been working on the divorce papers before I even became President. But when you left, I thought you didn't want me. I should have been doing it for me and not for you. But I was doing it for both of us. It's just, when you left, I couldn't think straight without you. Livie, you own me. You control me." Fitz took a breath and let her take in everything. "You're sick Liv, and it's making me sick. The look on your face controls me and you are making me ill. Cyrus knows what's going on, so does James. What's going on?"

Olivia knew the control she had over him. He had the same control over her. They knew each other's moves before the other did. So she knew the effect this was having on him.

"You think because you send her divorce papers AFTER we talked, it makes everything better? How is it supposed to be better, Fitz? I still stand by what I said. If you wanted to be with me, truly wanted to be with me, you would have set some plan in action no matter what I said. You don't care about me. You care about controlling me."

Fitz was getting upset with her. "I built you a fucking house Olivia! I planned on being with you forever. I still plan on being with you forever. How can you say that I don't care about you?"

"You had me followed for months!"

"Damn it Olivia! I was worried about you! Have you met the clients you have? Some of them are very dangerous people. It was for your own good! I can't live without you."

"Well, you are just going to have to learn to live without me. I won't always be around to clean up your messes or for your other needs."

Fitz got up and started to pace in a pattern, back and forth, a habit he picked up from her. "What the hell are you talking about? I can't live without you. I refuse to do that. Liv, I can't learn to either."

"Fitz, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm nearly out of options an you'll just have to get by."

Suddenly, it hit him. "You're dying aren't you?"


	8. Truth

"You're dying aren't you?"

Fitz held his breath waiting for her answer. "Of course not you idiot. I can't die; too many people depend on me. Apparently, you're at the top of that list. I'm not going to die." Olivia watched him pace and it was starting to get on her nerves. "Would you sit down? You're driving me nuts." Fitz sat down on the bed next to her. "Honestly, I'm not going to die. I promise you that. I'm…"

"She has breast cancer." Both Fitz and Olivia whipped their heads toward the door. Cyrus had walked in at some point without either of them noticing. "She's had breast cancer for over a year. Since before she left."

Olivia looked away from both of them. "Cyrus, I told you I would tell him."

"You were stalling. And yelling, Dr. Rain is worried about you being stressed again. We can hear you down the hall. Now, I've told him the main part, you tell him the rest. Now," Cyrus was adamant that she tell Fitz every detail. He needed Fitz to know everything. Cy was tired of having to keep it a secret. "If I knew the entire thing, I would tell him but he needs that from you."

Fitz looked between the two of them but neither of them would look at him. "Get out Cyrus." He didn't need to say it twice. Cyrus left the room. The uncomfortable silence needed to be broken but he was sure Olivia wasn't going to volunteer any information. "How long?" Fitz waited for an answer but Liv didn't say anything. "How long have you had breast cancer? How long have you known that you've had it?"

"It doesn't matter. It's never mattered how long I've been sick." Olivia was being backed into a corner and didn't think she had the energy to put up a fight, but she sure as hell was going to try.

"Doesn't matter? It's always mattered. I could have been here for you. I could have gone to…" Fitz paused and thought a moment. "You've been having chemotherapy. That's why you were throwing up blood. It's why Cyrus leaves early every other Wednesday, to be with you. It's never had anything to do with Ella. Has it?" Olivia slowly nodded her head but refused to look at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She didn't answer him for a few minutes. "Do you remember why I left? I told you exactly why I was leaving the after I left. And I told you again when you came to me about Amanda. Do you remember what I told you?"

Fitz nodded, "you wanted me to be a better man, the one that I would show you but couldn't show the rest of the world who I was. You wanted me to be a great man. The one who could change America for the better."

"That's why I didn't tell you. You wanted to devote yourself to your marriage and be the best man of the people you could be. If I would have told you, you would have dropped everything and been with me. I couldn't do that to you."

He realized that she was right. He would have dropped everything for her. Fitz wanted to be with her since they met, and every day that past, he just wanted to be with her more. "You didn't answer the question, how long have you known?"

Olivia met his eyes. His blue grey eyes showed how desperate he was. She closed her eyes and turned her head. "Since the campaign." Liv kept her eyes closed so she didn't have to see the anger that he spewed. She heard the door to the room slam open then closed.

Fitz showed his anger to everyone who could see it. He stomped into the waiting area where Cyrus was. "How long have you known?"

"She told me after she left the White House. I didn't know anything about it before then," Cyrus answered truthfully.

"You didn't think it was important to tell me? You didn't think that I needed to know? Cyrus, you knew exactly how I felt about her. How could you keep this from me? I should have known about this. I should have been there from the beginning. You both denied me those months that I could have been spending with her. She's dying and she won't even admit it." Fitz was more than upset with Cyrus.

Cyrus knew this was coming. He expected it. "She swore me to secrecy. She was fine the first time. The first one was benign. They fixed it quickly…" Fitz interrupted him.

"The first time? What the hell do you mean the first one?"

Cyrus shut up immediately. "She's going to kill me. Olivia's going to kill me. You need to hear this all from her. It's her life and I've already ruined the one."

"I'll go back in and talk to her after I get some things done. Call my lawyers and tell them to send Mellie the divorce papers. Give her whatever she wants. I don't care if she keeps this quiet or not. I want her doctor down here now; I want to know everything that's been going on. I want to know exactly what she's facing and what is going to happen. Cancel all of my appointments for the next two days. Get the resignation letter that's in my desk and bring it to me. Tom, go make sure that Olivia is as comfortable as possible and put Daniel or yourself in front of her door at all times. I want someone to go to her apartment and get her white silk pajamas that she always sleeps in, and anything else that she wants. Cyrus, get James down here, I need a reporter on my side. Also, get Mellie into Blair House. I need Karen and Jerry brought to the White House or Blair House, whichever they want. Schedule a press conference for noon this afternoon and make sure the news cycles are clear. Now, what is it Olivia says? Oh yes. All cylinders people." Fitz was taking charge and people in the room were starting to realize that he meant business.

Tom went down to Olivia's room and asked if she needed anything from her apartment. She told him that she didn't but he could get the pajamas. Tom told her the things that Fitz wanted.

"He's taking charge of everything. I'm not sure what his plan is but he's going with it. I think the only hitch he's going to get is your doctor. He wants to talk to Dr. Rain but he's forgetting about the confidentiality clause," Tom said.

Olivia lay back in the bed, drinking his water. "If he's going to do something so irrational that I can't fix, he needs to know everything. I know he's upset and confused. Can you ask him to come in?" Tom said he would and headed towards the door. "And Tom," he turned back to her, "I'm sorry he's acting this way." Tom gave her a polite smile and walked out.

A few minutes later Fitz walked into the room. "You rang?"

"Have you finished your temper tantrum?" Olivia was trying to make light of the situation but he wasn't having it.

"You think this is funny? That you're dying and it's just all a game? Cyrus said there was more than one; that this was at least the second time. I should have known about everything that was going on," Fitz sat next to her.

Liv sank deeper into the bed. She should have told him before when she found out at the beginning. "You had just lost your dad. You wanted to be President because he said you couldn't. You wanted to show him that you were more than everything he said you were. Fitz, I had no right to take that from you. I wasn't your wife. I couldn't ask you to stop everything and be with me. That would have been selfish of me."

"You needed me. More than anything, you needed me then and I wasn't there. What would I do if you had died and I didn't even get to say goodbye? I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

Olivia watched him closely. "Tom said you have a plan. What is it?"

Fitz smiled eager to get her on board but not ready to tell her. "I'm handling things. It's being handled. But will you tell me what's been going on? I know I don't deserve to know and you probably don't want to tell me. But Livie, I'm making this work for us. Tell me when you found out and go from there. Please?"

"Alright, I'll tell you. I wasn't feeling well when we were in New Hampshire for a campaign stop so I told you I was going back to D.C. for a day or so, remember?" Fitz nodded and she continued. "I got back to D.C. and went to the doctor. She drew some blood and did some tests. I told her to give me the results over the phone and came back to the campaign. Well, she called a couple days later and said that I needed to come back for a couple more tests. I told her I couldn't leave again but if she found me a doctor where I was that she trusted, I would go to them and get the blood work done. She found me a doctor and I went. A couple days after that she said she really needed me to come back to D.C. and speak in person. I told you I was going back to New Hampshire to help with the election from there, only for a couple days. When I came back she said that I needed a mammogram of my breast. We did that but she didn't see anything. So they did an ultrasound. She found a very benign lump. She said it was about the size of the tip of my finger. I asked what they could do and she said that surgery wasn't needed because it was so small. She said just a little radiation and a biopsy would cure it. I agreed to it and didn't think anything of it again. It was gone and there was not need to worry about it. Fitz, I thought about telling you but you'd have gone over board and done something drastic. I was worried you'd drop out of the race and we already made Defiance happen. And everyone would know that it was about me. You wouldn't leave me alone if you knew so I decided to keep it to myself. Cyrus didn't even know about it. I had a checkup a few weeks later and everything was still fine. The lump was completely gone and there weren't any others appearing."

Fitz let everything she said digest. "So that was the first time, what about the second?"

"We had started working on the State of the Union address at Camp David and I said I was going to bed early. Then you came down to the cabin but I told you I wasn't in the mood for sex. I told you I was tired and just wanted to sleep but you could stay if you wanted." Fitz remembered that day clearly. It was the second time, the last time that she ever denied him. "I was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. When you left to go back to your cabin, I called my doctor again. I told her that the same symptoms were back. She said to come back in as soon as I could. That's why I left Camp David earlier than you did. She said that the other breast had a bigger lump and more severe. We started the chemotherapy and I had gone home. That's when I was starting to get sicker. I didn't have the energy to work at the White House anymore. I was so tired and the pills that she was giving me were wearing me down earlier in the day. That's when I gave you my resignation letter. I couldn't tell you in person Fitz. If I did you would have known that moment that I was ill. And you would have pitied me. I don't like pity, especially for me. Anyway, I had another shot of chemo the week after and that's when James showed up. In the middle of my hurling he walked in and saw the blood. I had no choice but to tell him. So I told James and his fat mouth told Cyrus. When Cy came over I had made him swear on Ella's life not to tell you. He finally agreed and I told him I would tell you when or if you needed to know. I've had chemo every other Wednesday for the past few months so Cyrus was coming with me."

He ran a hand through his hair and leaned over and kissed her. "So what's happening now?"

"Well, now that the lump has gotten smaller, I've decided that it's a good idea to have it removed."

"And I'll be with you through it all. Don't bother arguing Olivia, my team is handling it. I've got all my people of all cylinders." Fitz looked in her eyes and knew there was more. "What else aren't you telling me?"

She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "I've made a decision. The doctor agrees with it. We both think that would be better for it and the likely hood for it to come back is very slim. I've decided to get a double mastectomy."


	9. Doors

"I'm going to get a double mastectomy. It's going to strongly decrease the chances of this coming back," Olivia told Fitz.

Fitz wasn't sure what he could say to her. Honestly, he didn't want her to do it. If she did, it would be like losing a part of her, of him. "Livie, you can't do that. It's going to go away. If you have them remove your breasts… you just won't be you again."

Stunned at what he just said, Olivia turned her head so she couldn't see him. "Cyrus was right," she laughed, "you only like my body." She kept laughing but Fitz never found it funny.

He stomped over to her and forced her face to look at him. "Don't you ever say that again. This was never about sex and you know that. It just seems that you wouldn't be you anymore if you had them removed."

Olivia knew he was serious, and their relationship was never about sex. They both knew what it was about. They loved each other more than anything, they were soul mates. "I know Fitz. But it's going to be better for me. I'll have implants in place of them. I'm not going to be bare chested or anything. I'm doing this for me. None of this has anything to do with you. This is my choice, get over it."

"You infuriate me. I know this is for you. Let's just get you better. When will all this happen?" Fitz's mind was going a mile a minute. There was a lot to do and he wanted to spend every minute with her possible.

"Next week. I've had it scheduled for a while but we had to wait until it was smaller. If you'll excuse me, I would like for you to leave and send in Dr. Rain. Thank you," Olivia was getting impatient because she was tired. Fitz held her hand a moment and was going to ask her, but she knew him to well and answered his unspoken question. "No, you can't stay in here while I talk to him. Go do your presidential duties and run the country. I'll be just fine. And no you cannot have one minute. Go, now."

Fitz felt defeated against her. She denied him their special minute and told him to go to work. He got up and walked out the door, yelling for Cyrus to get down here.

"You knew about this decision?" Fitz asked him. Cyrus shook his head yes. "And you didn't try to tell me?" No. "Did you try to talk her out of it?"

"It's a good idea and a well thought plan. It's going to help her more than anything. She needs it," Cyrus explained.

Fitz nodded and went on with the plan. "Where are things at?"

"Sir, Mellie has been informed of the situation but not why Olivia is here. She's a bit pissed but nothing we can't handle. She wants to speak to you and has agreed to be moved to Blair House. Your lawyers have sent her the divorce papers and she is going over them with her attorney. Your schedule has been cleared for the next two days and the press is assembled waiting for you to arrive. Tom's got some things for her and also brought your resignation letter you asked for. Karen and Jerry are on the plane and will arrive at the White House soon. James is dropping Ella off and daycare and will be here any moment. Dr. Rain is in with Olivia now," Cyrus told him.

He shook his head, understanding everything. "Good job, Cy. Let me know when James gets here and he can ride with me to the White House. Let's give Liv and her doctor a few minutes before I go back in with her."

"Olivia, we scheduled your mastectomy for next Thursday and will be going from there. We're pretty positive that we can get it all and put the implants in at the same time," Dr. Rain told her. Liv agreed that that was a good plan and was ready to go. "We can release you if you don't want to stay here until then."

"Thank you Dr. Rain. I would like to get home as soon as possible. I hate hospitals. I can get some things done and be back on Wednesday night or Thursday morning."

Olivia signed her release forms and was packing her things into her bag when Fitz came back in.

"What are you doing?" She gave him a kind of 'isn't it obvious?' look and continued packing. "You should be resting in bed, not roaming around."

"Fitz, I am fine. I'm not roaming, I'm packing my things. I'm going home and I'll be back next week for my surgery. There are things that need to be done back at OPA and a bottle of wine with my name on it at home. Tom said Jerry and Karen are on their way back to D.C. Go have some time with them and enjoy it while you can. Jerry's getting ready for college and I know you want to spend more time with Karen. I will see you around Mr. President."

Liv walked towards the door but Fitz caught her arm and brought her back to him. "You don't get it do you?" She watched his eyes to gauge his emotions. "You are sick. You need someone to take care of you and I'm going to. I'm handling things now. You're coming back to the White House with me and staying there. I need to know that you are fine for my own sanity. Don't bother fighting me on it. Arrangements have already been made." Olivia took in every word. They stood still for what seemed like hours but were only mere seconds. Fitz kept his hand firmly around her upper arm so she wouldn't leave. Rage filled within her and she threw herself back away from him.

"Five. You have a job. As President you need to keep this country running strong. You can't cancel appointments because your mistress is sick. It doesn't help the country, it hurts it. Four. You can't make me do a damn thing. I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm going home to my apartment. Three. I'll do whatever the hell I want. If I want to drink myself into oblivion I will do it and there won't be a single person to stop me. Two. I can handle myself. I don't need anyone taking care of me. And that includes Cyrus, James, Secret Service, and YOU. I have been taking care of myself all along through this and I will make it alone. You haven't been there once through this, and yes I know that I didn't tell you because that's how I wanted it. I didn't need anyone's help and I still don't. One. WE ARE NOT TOGETHER. You have a pregnant wife, two other children, a country who depends on you, and are unavailable to anyone, especially myself. We cannot be together and we won't. Vermont is a beautiful dream but it's just that, a dream. Vermont won't happen because it was never meant to happen. Now, if you'll get out of my way, I'll be going home now." Olivia stepped around Fitz and walked out the door to a cab.

When she got home she chain locked, dead bolted and locked her apartment door, unplugged her home phone, disconnected her internet, unplugged the TV, turned off her phone, and crawled into bed. She wanted no content from the outside world near her. Though she felt very alone, she reminded herself she had no one to blame but herself. It was all her own fault for not telling anyone about her illness. She could handle this herself and not have to be held up by anyone.

Fitz had cleared the hospital floor out and went back to the Oval before talking to Mellie. He was going to spend some time with the kids and let Liv cool off before going to her apartment. She was upset with him and he knew it. The three years that they had been together, Fitz never got an Olivia Pope countdown. And when he saw the countdowns she gave, she was always pissed off at the person receiving it. All he wanted was to make sure that she was being taken care of, whom better than him to do it? He knew her every need and was able to provide it for her.

He went over to the residence and played a few games with Karen and Jerry before they went off to finish homework and go to bed after dinner. Fitz took the tunnels to Blair House and discussed everything with Mellie. Their talk was nowhere close to being good. They remained civil until Mellie revealed her deep secrets and he started yelling. Mellie apologized a million times but he never believed that she was sincere. The two of them discussed their divorce and put in the terms.

Around one in the morning Fitz left to go to Olivia's. He'd called her cell but it went straight to her voicemail. Her home phone just kept ringing and he got worried. He arrived at the apartment and was hopeless to get in. If he wanted in, he was going to have to break down the door.

Olivia heard him knocking and yelling for her to answer but she never moved from under her blankets. Fitz stood outside her door for a couple hours and had enough. He left Tom to guard her apartment and let him know when she came out.

For the next couple days Tom and Daniel took turns guarding Olivia. The door never opened and they couldn't hear anything coming from inside. Every now and then they could hear the footsteps into the kitchen but no voices.

On the third night, Fitz called for his hourly report.

"Sir, there's still no movement. I haven't even heard her footsteps since yesterday afternoon," Tom told him.

"I'm on my way over. Keep knocking though, she'll get tired of the noise and answer eventually. I'll be there soon."

When Fitz got to her apartment and she still didn't answer he had Tom break down the door. "Break it down, she could be hurt or something. I need to get in there."

Tom had an idea and tried it. He turned the knob but it was still locked. As he was about to break the door down, Huck stopped on the floor. "Have you tried the service door?"

Fitz, Tom, and Daniel looked at Huck as if he were crazy. "There's another door?" Fitz asked. Huck nodded and told them to wait there. After a few minutes Huck unlocked the door from the inside of the apartment.

"She's in bed, Sir." Huck let Fitz in and he stepped into the hallway with Tom and Daniel. "You didn't know there was another way in?" Both men shook their heads no. Huck walked past the two of them and left the building.

When Fitz walked into Olivia's bedroom he stood against the door frame and took in the sight of her. She was still dressed in her silk pajamas she wore from the hospital. Her hair was scattered around her face. There were wine bottles on both night stands against the bed, probably about fifteen of them empty. Olivia looked peaceful and relaxed. He looked closely at her, like it was the last time he would ever see her. She wasn't asleep though, she was staring at the ceiling.

"So you aren't answering anything to anyone or is it just me?" Fitz asked from the doorway. Liv didn't respond and continued staring at the ceiling. "I know you're mad at me for making decisions without you. But right now, I really need my best friend. I need my Livie to come back and support me for a minute. Because I just got some news that I don't think I can handle alone." Olivia still didn't move her eyes from the ceiling. "I have no children."


	10. Press

"I have no children." Fitz told her. Olivia sat up on her elbows waiting for him to explain. "I just had a long fight with Mellie and she told me everything." He waited for her to say something but she never did so he continued. "Big Jerry raped her. When I was running for governor, he raped her and that's how Jerry came to be here. For Karen, Mellie had a one night stand with a guy at the bar and took him back to our house. I had to go to an event and she said she wasn't feeling well. But she went out and took him back to our bed. She doesn't have any idea who her father is. And she's been sleeping with Andrew since we got to the White House. She went to California because she had a literacy meeting and she screwed Andrew. I thought something was off when she just randomly came in and wanted to fuck one night. She's actually six months pregnant. That's why it looks like she's carrying twins. The kids I've raised since they were born are not my children. I've been raising my brother."

Olivia laid back in the bed and put her head down on the pillow. She pulled the blankets on the bed over so he could come lay next to her. Fitz moved toward her and kicked off his shoes and took off his jacket then got in bed with her. He pulled the blanket over him and put his head on her chest. Liv moved her hand and starting stroking his hair.

Liv didn't say anything for a long few minutes. The both laid there and absorbed the company of each other. "I'm sorry Fitz," she finally said. Fitz wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him. "I know it seems that this is getting worse. Do the kids know?" He nodded yes and held her tighter.

"I don't mean to make everything about me Livie. How are you feeling?"

"We can talk about something else. I don't want to talk about that. Tom said you sent the divorce papers. How are you doing with that?"

Fitz rolled to his side so he could see her beautiful brown eyes. "You don't need to fix this. It's being handled. But I really do miss you. Just let me help you Livie, please."

Olivia took a breath and looked at him. "I'm going into the hospital Wednesday night. They'll start the surgery at eleven on Thursday morning. James and Cyrus will be there in the waiting room. He can give you updates from there. There's nothing you can do at the hospital."

"I'll go with you Wednesday night," he told her. She was about to protest but he interrupted her. "Don't bother fighting me on it. It's done." Liv nodded and didn't say anything else. "Pack a bag. You're coming with me. Mellie's at Blair House and her things are being moved to California. She's signed the divorce papers. We're going to announce it in two hours. Then I'm coming to come back up to the residence and take care of you."

She was being stubborn and he knew it. Fitz started gathering some of her clothes and put them into a suitcase. "Start moving out of that bed or I will physically remove you from it." Liv saw in his eyes that he was serious. She sat up and was getting out of bed.

Daniel drove them back to the White House. Fitz took Olivia up to the residence and helped her get comfortable in the Lincoln Bedroom that he had been sleeping in.

He left Liv alone and let her get comfortable alone while he went to give a press conference.

Fitz stood in the press room with Mellie, Karen, and Jerry at his sides. He motioned for everyone to sit down so that they could start. "Ladies and gentlemen of the press and American citizens, today I would like to announce that the First Lady and I have made a final decision. The past few years of our marriage have been difficult. We do not spend as much time together as we should. Our children are not getting the attention that they deserve. I have fallen for another person and Mrs. Grant and I have decided to get a divorce after our twenty years of marriage. It is my hope that you all will give my family and I the privacy that is needed as it is a private matter. Mrs. Grant and the children will be returning to California to spend some much needed quality time together while I remain here in our nation's capital and push to make America a better place. We thank you for your consideration in this private matter and will have follow up questions answered at a later time. Thank you and God bless America." He took Mellie's hand and escorted her off the platform with the children following while the press begged for their questions to be answered.

Olivia had been watching the press conference in the living room of the residence. She walked down the halls and out to the Rose Garden. Liv started pacing in circles. This was a disaster. America will want to know who the other people are and once the press finds out that Olivia has been staying in the residence, they are going to want to know why. The press will know soon enough who the other people are that Fitz and Mellie are seeing and everything will come out. They'll know about the children's real father and Olivia's cancer and the other thing she didn't want anyone to know about. She was thinking of ways that would be a possible fix for the situation when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Stop pacing in circles. All the secrets are going to come out and there is not a thing you can do to stop them. I told you I was fixing things and this is what I've decided the fix will be," Fitz followed her every step in her pacing.

"You just threw it all away. America wanted you and Mellie. Now they have you and no First Lady. You've just thrown your kids to the starving dogs and you're sending them with her to California. The press is going to start looking into everything that they can find to find out who you and she are seeing. They're going to find my name and they will destroy me. They'll find out who I am and put my name in a public light and shine it to be that I was the one who seduced the President and took him away from the loving family that he had. I'll be the mistress you had on the side and the press will call me a whore and any other name that they think of and OPA won't stand a chance. If I was just worrying about my own reputation I'd be fine but I have to worry about my gladiators and how this will affect them."

Fitz stood in her path and hugged her tightly. "You are not nor have you ever been a mistress or a whore. You upset me every time that you call yourself that and I need you to stop it. Karen and Jerry aren't mine but they are Mellie's. And no matter how awful she is, she's not a bad mother, she's just an extremely absent one. OPA will be just fine and so will your gladiators. Of course the press will go looking for a name, it's what they want and what they will find. But I hope you will take a risk and step up and say that you and I have been together for the past three years and that we love each other very much. We can face all of this together and have the happy ending in Vermont. I'm going to make you First Lady, like it or not. We're going to have the White House and Vermont. You helped me get here and you deserve credit for it. You and I have done a lot more together than Mellie or I have accomplished separately. Sweet baby, you have breast cancer and I refuse to not be able to spend every day with you for the rest of forever. So get on board because this is happening."

Olivia kept her mind going for the next few days. She was trying to write a press release that would say that she and Fitz had been together for three years and explain that she had breast cancer. Another part that she wanted Fitz to know was something she did not like to think about. Cyrus knew every detail about it since he found out about her cancer. But she made him swear not to tell anyone, not even James.

Fitz and Liv had gotten through the week together and were getting ready for her surgery.

"You don't have to go. Cyrus will be there and he will give you updates if I let him. And I promise to let him give you the updates. You have several bills to pass and several Senators to fight with about it, you shouldn't be worrying about me," Liv tried to reason with him not to come with her.

"I'm going with you and I'm spending the night next to you. The bills can wait and the Senators will too. You are more important. Now, stop fighting it and deal. We have to get you checked in before Dr. Rain leaves for the night."

The Secret Service cleared an entire floor for them to be on. They arrived around eight and got them both set up for the night. Liv wasn't allowed to eat anything until after her surgery the next day.

Dr. Rain came in at nine the next morning to get her prepped and ready to go. While she was waiting for the doctors and nurses to be ready, Cyrus and James came in.

"It's going to get better after this Liv. You'll be just fine and will feel so much better afterwards," Cy told her.

"He's right, Liv. You'll have your energy back and will be back to fixing D.C.'s issues in no time," James added.

"But first you have to recuperate and relax at the White House with me for a few weeks," Fitz demanded that she stay with him longer.

Olivia laughed at the three of them attempting to make her feel better. "It won't be the cancer that kills me; it's going to be the three of you. All of you worry over me too much; you're going to give yourselves a stroke or something. Will you all please just sit down and try to un-tense while I'm in there? Think about Ella, you could even go get her and take her to the park or anywhere but here. Dr. Rain will call you if there's anything you need to know about immediately. I'm not going to die, I promise. But when you do come back, someone had better have a bottle of wine and a Gettysburger waiting for me." All three men laughed and said that they would have it delivered. James said that he would have the sitter bring Ella up later so she could see her. "Can I have a minute with Fitz guys?" James gave her a hug and wished her luck. Then Cyrus bent down to do the same. When he did she whispered in his ear, "You better not say anything about it to him. I'll tell him when I'm ready." Cyrus nodded and left the room. "So, there's no need to worry Fitz. I'll be in for about three hours then I'll be right back here. Nothing's going to happen okay?"

Fitz nodded unsurely, "You don't know for sure though. You are not a psychic, Livie."

"Have I ever made you a promise that I can't keep?" Fitz shook his head no. "Then I'm coming back. Call Karen and Jerry while I'm in there. I know you miss them."

Dr. Rain had just walked in and told them that they were ready to head down. He let Fitz walk with her to the operating room but he wasn't allowed in. They stopped the gurney and Fitz took her hand. "One minute?" Liv agreed and they stood still for a minute. She held his hands and tried to tell him with her eyes that everything would be fine. The nurse and Dr. Rain stepped aside and let them continue their silent talk.

When their one minute was over, Fitz bent down and kissed Olivia with all the force he could muster up. "Don't you dare die on me Olivia Carolyn Pope, don't you dare die."


	11. Death

"Don't you dare die on me," Fitz demanded.

Dr. Rain and the nurse took Olivia into the operating room and started the procedure. Fitz went back to the waiting room with Cyrus and James. Not much was said for a long time. The doctor had told them that the operation would take about three hours and then Olivia would be back in her room and monitored for the next few hours. Dr. Rain told them that there wasn't a big risk of anything going wrong and it put Fitz's worries a bit at ease.

"How could you not tell me Cy?" Fitz asked him after the uncomfortable silence got too strong.

Cyrus didn't want to discuss it, especially because he knew he should have told Fitz. "She asked me not to. I owed her a favor and she was cashing in. I asked her to tell you so many times but she wouldn't and I was tempted to tell you myself, almost every time you asked about her. It killed me to have to tell you 'she's fine' or 'she's been better' when all I wanted to tell you was she's having chemotherapy for breast cancer. I made her swear that she would tell you when the time was right."

"And when exactly when the time have been right? She's having a double mastectomy right now and I found out a week ago! You should have told me. Who's been taking care of her? How did it get this bad that she wouldn't tell me? I could've lied and said it wasn't you, it was someone else or I could have said that I was having her followed or something. I wouldn't have rolled over and given you up." Fitz was annoyed with Cyrus's excuses.

"You do remember this is Olivia Pope we are talking about? You could never lie to her and make it so she believed you. There's no way in hell that you'd be able to lie that good to her. She knows you too well and as good as a politician you are, she'd have seen straight through it and had my head on a silver platter. She was going to tell you. Eventually, she was going to. Liv told me exactly what her plan was for her to tell you. That night that you went and found her in the Rose Garden and she was pacing, remember? She was trying to figure out what words she could use to make you listen to her and tell you what was going on. But you two fought instead, which by the way, was more stress caused to the situation," Cyrus explained.

Fitz sat back and took in what Cyrus said. "If she told me before, we could have been finding a cure for her, some type of treatment, specialist doctors, anything."

"She didn't need a specialist doctor. She needed you to be there for her. But she's Olivia and you know that she was only thinking of how it would affect you," James sat down beside Fitz and explained. "Olivia hasn't done anything for herself in a long time. It's part of being Olivia. Others come first and she's always last. And I don't say that to be hurtful, it's just the truth."

Fitz got up and went to the cafeteria to get some coffee. He thought about what James had said. It was all true. Everyone came before Olivia. She always had to make sure her clients, the gladiators, Fitz, everyone were taken care of before she had time for herself. And usually, when she did get a second to help herself, another problem arose and it was time to go back to playing fixer. Fitz made himself a promise then that she was going to be his first priority, at any price he had to pay. He took his time getting back up to the waiting room. There was so much tension in the air there that he wasn't in a hurry to get back. With Tom and Daniel behind him, he stepped off the elevator on her floor and saw the doctor talking with Cyrus and James. Fitz stood away for a minute trying to gauge if it was good news. He watched Cyrus's face for any emotions and when he saw Cy start to cry, he knew it was bad news.

As the doctor was exiting the waiting room, Fitz was about to go in. "She died, didn't she? Olivia's dead?" Dr. Rain was about to explain to him what happened and he had an emergency page.

"Mr. President I'll be right back. Let Cyrus tell you and I'll come back and fill you in." Dr. Rain ran down the halls back to where Olivia was at.

Fitz crumbled to the floor, not making it to a chair. "Tell me Cyrus, is she really dead? The one thing I told her not to do was die and she did. Olivia Pope is dead and all of D.C. will turn to turmoil. Her people aren't trained well enough to handle this city. She can't be dead when there's still so much for us to do. She left me and she left Vermont. How could she do this to me? We were finally going to really be together, in public where everyone could see and she leaves me. Why would she leave me after everything we've gone through? I need to see her. Even if it's just her body, I need to see her and I want him to explain what the hell went wrong." Fitz got up off the floor filled with rage. "That damn doctor said she would be fine, it was a simple operation." He picked up one of the chairs in the room and threw it to the other side. Cyrus pulled James out of the way and went to stop Fitz but Fitz walked out of the room. He pushed Tom, who was trying to stop him, out of the way and started walking around the main hallway. "Olivia is dead. Olivia Carolyn Pope is dead and it's his fault. Daniel, go get this sorry excuse of a doctor and get him out here."

Daniel left and got Dr. Rain. When Daniel found the doctor, he explained to him what was happening with Fitz and what the President wanted. Dr. Rain followed Daniel to the nurse's station where Fitz was not moving from until he had answers.

"There's the damn doctor that killed the love of my life. The only person that truly love or cared about me is now dead and it's your entire fault. Now, you are going to tell me what the hell you did from the moment that she left my sight and what you did to fuck up that caused her to die and leave me alone in this damn world. She was my one person left to care about. My entire reason for getting up in the morning just to see her beautiful eyes. And now, I will never see them again because of you. Explain yourself and tell me who is to blame for this death."

Fitz waited for Dr. Rain's answer. Instead Dr. Rain looked over at Cyrus and James in the waiting room but they both shook their heads, not sure how they could help in any way. "I'm sorry Mr. President," he started but Fitz cut him off.

"You're sorry? You should be, you killed a patient today. And of all the people to kill, you happened to kill the one who was in love with me. What went wrong?"

"Nothing went wrong sir," Dr. Rain tried to explain again.

"Obviously, something did. She's dead and she died on YOUR table. Stop giving me excuses and give me answers. I get enough excuses from Cyrus every day. I don't need them from you. Let's try this again. What went wrong in that room that she died?"

Dr. Rain couldn't think of a way to explain to Fitz what had happened in the operating room. Then he got an idea. "Mr. President, will you please follow me?"

Fitz followed Dr. Rain down the hallway to the room that Olivia was occupying before her surgery. Dr. Rain opened the door and let Fitz in.

"STOP THE FUCKING TANTRUMS!"


	12. Secret

"Stop the fucking tantrums," Olivia yelled.

When Fitz walked in the room, he expected to see her lying on a bed with a blanket covered over her whole body, looking cold and dead. But she wasn't. She was the complete opposite. Olivia was walking around the hospital room on her cell phone yelling at whoever was on the other line but paused and yelled at Fitz when he walked in. Liv only yelled a few words at him and then returned to her phone call but it was just the few words that made Fitz believe that she was really alive.

A few minutes later she hung up the phone and sat in bed. "Happy now Dr. Rain?" Dr. Rain had been scolding her to get back in bed and rest from the moment she woke up after surgery and started calling people and stressing about her work. He nodded and excused himself to let the two of them talk. "Throwing chairs across rooms is ridiculous Fitzgerald. If you wouldn't come to assumptions and let people explain this whole disaster could have been avoided."

"If you would have told me to begin with that you had cancer, all of this could have been avoided," Fitz told her. Olivia stared him down, giving him the 'don't start with me' look to which he immediately stopped talking. She went to grab her cell phone off the bedside table but Fitz got to it first. "You need to be resting and let other people handle their own problems. I don't want you to stress out about everything now."

"Fitz, you've been here since last night. The press is outside the hospital doors, the news wants to know why you are here at a hospital, Cyrus, I'm sure, is about to have a heart attack because things aren't being done and you won't listen to reason. The President cannot just go to the hospital without the people knowing exactly why he is there and what's going on," Liv said.

With every word she said, he walked closer to her, finally getting to the side of the bed. "Shut up." Fitz bent down and kissed her. "Cyrus is fine. We haven't discussed anything other than you the whole day. You need to relax and let other people control things."

"That was Abby on the phone. Apparently, this entire city cannot function without me to clean up their damn messes. Congressman Shaw just got arrested for being caught with another prostitute. A highly decorated Marine is accused of being gay. Governor Taylor is dropping in the polls. David's trying to arrest a CIA operative, Mellie is on another rampage and you haven't been seen in twenty-four hours. No one can do anything right. So now, I have to go fix this. You need to go outside and go back to the White House, take Cyrus with you. Go through the back and when you get back give a press conference. Tell them that you were visiting a friend who had a medical emergency. Say that you expect them to give said person their privacy and let them know that you are back for the rest of the day but you intend to visit them frequently. America needs to know that it isn't you that is in a hospital bed. If you go now, I'll even let you come back here tonight to see me," Olivia bargained.

"No."

"No?"

"No, I'm not leaving. I will have Cyrus go to the White House or downstairs and give a press conference to say that I'm not the one in the hospital but I'm visiting someone very close to me and will return later tomorrow and things will go back to business as usual. Your team can handle everything else but what's Mellie up to? She's in California and is fine with Andrew. There's no need for her to start anything."

"Mellie hasn't signed the divorce papers and she is threatening to leak a name to the media about your affair. It's just Mellie being Mellie trying to get the upper hand but she doesn't have it. I'm going to make a few phone calls and I'll get some rest. Please Fitz, just go back to the White House and let America know that you are fine."

Fitz was going to argue with her but decided not to stress her out. He kissed her good bye and sent James in to keep her company. Cyrus went with Fitz back to the White House and planned on the press conference. On the way he called Mellie and told her to keep her mouth shut or he would personally announce to the world that he was not the father of any of her children.

Cyrus assembled the press while Fitz got ready. He explained to the press that he was visiting a friend but never said a name. Fitz did exactly as Olivia told him to do and went back to the hospital. When he got back Olivia was asleep in the bed with Ella next to her. James was sitting in a chair near the window reading and followed Fitz into the hallway to talk.

"Ella's sitter had an emergency so I had to get her but she does have a way with Liv. The second she came in Liv stopped working and focused on her," James told him.

"Good, I'm glad she's getting some sleep. She needs it. How long have they been asleep?" Fitz asked.

"About an hour and Ella will at least sleep for another two. I took Olivia's phone and turned it off. She won't be getting any calls for now. Cyrus just called, he's on his way to OPA to help and probably tell her team about what's happened. They don't have a clue about any of this, except probably Huck. If you're going to be here a while, would you mind watching Ella too? I can go help Cy then."

Fitz agreed and went into the room. He sat down and watched his godchild and the love of his life sleep soundly. Fitz couldn't help but wish that it was their child that she was holding. Since they had met, he wished that she would have children with him. Beautiful babies that they would make. Her eyes and his hair on a light skinned angel was a picture he couldn't get out of his mind. Fitz wanted to make her as happy as possible for the rest of his life if she would let him. She had to eventually. Soon she would have to grow tired of fighting him on being together. They needed to be together. It kept both of them whole.

"Stop thinking so loudly," Liv said with her eyes closed.

He laughed at her. "I didn't mean to wake you up. Go back to sleep."

"Your thoughts woke me up. I want two kids by the way. One of each. But I'm open to more if that's what you want. And I am tired of fighting this no win fight. We should be together if we can. You complete me and all that goes with that mushy love shit. I just want to have Vermont with you," Olivia told him in a serious tone.

Fitz kissed her softly and moved her hair away from her face. "I love you so much."

"I love you too."

They sat in the hospital room for a few hours with nothing much to say. Ella woke up a couple hours later and Fitz called James to take her home. Olivia ordered dinner for the two of them and they stayed put for the night. Through the night, Fitz held her in bed like they use to when he would spend the night with her. And she missed the feel of him around her. Olivia felt at ease, calm, relaxed when she was in his arms.

Dr. Rain had allowed her to go home the next night but was not allowed to go back to work yet. Fitz demanded that she stay at the White House with him forever but he settled for until she was well enough to return to OPA. Each night they slept in the Lincoln Bedroom and told the other about their day. Fitz asked her if she wanted to spend the weekend at Camp David or in Vermont and noticed when she hesitated to answer. Eventually, Olivia agreed to spend the weekend in Vermont with him.

They left Friday afternoon after Fitz's last appointment for the day. After they arrived and got settled in the two made dinner together.

"I need to tell you something," Liv told Fitz. He got worried when she said it. In that tone and her choice of words, this 'something' was not going to be good.

"You can tell me anything baby. What's wrong?" Fitz sat on the couch in the living room next to the fire place and waited for her to continue.

"Do you remember Ella's christening?" Fitz nodded yes, remembering how beautiful Liv looked when she walked into the church. "What do you remember of it?"

He smiled at her. "You looked gorgeous in your white skirt suit and I remember being upset with you still but no matter how much I may be angry with you I still love you. And of course I remember how Ella looked. She almost looked as beautiful as you."

"Do you remember after the ceremony?"

"The reception? Yes."

"And after the reception? When I left and you came after me?"

"Yes," Fitz couldn't look straight at Liv anymore. He felt too ashamed of what he had done. When they went into the closet and he took her from behind. "I do. Why do you want to discuss that? I feel awful every time I think about that day. I should have been able to control myself. You just looked so beautiful that I couldn't stop. You deserve a lot more than me pulling you into the closet like that. I've wanted to apologize for that for so long. I am greatly sorry for that, sweet baby. I was just so upset that you left me again. Please forgive me for that." Olivia sat across from him and was quite a few minutes. Then she stood back up and paced around the couch. After another few minutes she did the same thing. "Livie, what is it? You're pacing in circles again, something is wrong. Tell me."

Olivia avoided looking at him. "If I tell you, you'll hate me."

"There's nothing you can do or say that I would hate you for. You have my complete love. I could never hate you. Tell me what it is and we can work through it. We get through everything else. Whatever this is, whatever you need to tell me, will be the same. We'll work through it. Just tell me."

She nodded her head and sat back across from him on the couch. "Do you promise that you won't leave me? I need you now and I don't think I can last without you anymore. So no matter what I tell you, do you promise not to leave me?"

"I told you before. There's nothing you can do that I wouldn't forgive. Not a thing. You've forgiven me for everything, I think. And I will forgive you too. I'm not leaving you again. Ever. I had a house built for us so we can be together for the rest of our lives. Believe me, I'm not going anywhere without you."

The room stayed quite for a few more minutes. Olivia had decided that she was just going to say it. She was going to blurt it out and take her punishment like a big girl. She thought of all the ways he would punish her and only came up with him leaving. That was the only thing that could happen; he would leave and never come back to her.

"You and I have a child together."


	13. Baby

"You and I have a child together."

Olivia watched Fitz's face for any type of reaction. He looked pale when her words finally sunk in. Fitz thought how it could be possible for them to have a child together. They never used protection and he never thought to ask her if she was on birth control. They were so caught in the moment with each other that nothing else ever mattered.

"We have a child together?" Fitz asked her. "Where is the baby?" She didn't say anything to him, she just pointed at her heart. "I know you love the baby but where is it?"

Olivia looked at Fitz as he moved closer to her. "He died," she stood up and looked out the window trying to move away from him. "He died when I was twenty weeks pregnant. I didn't even know I was pregnant until the twelve week. I was going to tell you, I made an appointment with you and everything. Cyrus had set it up; he put it in your schedule to make sure you had time. But when I got to the White House, he said you had refused to see me. I told him in was a life or death situation but he didn't believe me. Cyrus said I was probably just there for another screw." Liv started to laugh. "It's funny kind of. I was screwed. I was pregnant and the one person I had to tell was refusing to see me because he was sleeping with another woman." Fitz was going to interrupt her but she started in again. "I don't blame you. I would have refused to see you too if the situation was reversed. But I was going to tell you. Cyrus came over a week later and that's when he found out about the cancer. When I made the appointment to see you, I was going to tell you both. That I had breast cancer and that I was pregnant. I thought you should know about him. I didn't want you to know about the cancer but figured if you had to know one you had to know the other."

"Why didn't you tell Cyrus that you demanded to see me, Livie? Cause a scene to get me to talk to you, something other than silence. You know that I would have talked to you eventually," Fitz was extremely sad at her words.

"Fitz, do you just assume that I tried once to talk to you and then gave up?" He shook his head no and allowed her to continue. "I called, I showed up, I called the private number, I tried everything short of throwing rocks at your window. Cyrus wouldn't let me talk to you. I needed you to know about our son. I called Lauren but Cyrus had threatened to fire her if she put me on any paper that you might see. He had Morris cut my hard pass to pieces. He changed the private number so I wasn't able to contact you at all. And throwing rocks at your window was sure to get me arrested. There was no way for me to get a hold of you. I was blackballed from being anywhere near you. Hell, I almost called Mellie to tell you but I couldn't have her knowing and holding it over you. These aren't excuses or reasons that I didn't tell you. There just facts, Fitz. I was going to tell you. I would never hide your child from you."

He sat next to her at the dining room table and held her hand. "I am one hundred percent sure that you did your best to get in touch with me. Cyrus is all about the presidency and protecting it. If he knew you were pregnant with my child, and he didn't love you as much as he does, he would have had you killed. Thankfully, he loves you like you were his own daughter. I will take care of him when we return to D.C. I'm sure this is extremely sad for you, Livie, but I need to know everything, please. You said Cyrus went to your apartment a week after you made the appointment to see me, what happened?"

She took a breath and told him. "Cyrus came over after he left the White House and I was drinking wine and throwing up when he got there. Dr. Rain said it was okay for me to have a glass of wine, one glass a night, to help relax. So that was a deep cut down from my usual bottle. I let him in and Cyrus told me that I needed to stop trying to talk to you. I told him I needed to tell you something urgent, that you needed to know but he decided that it was his choice. Before I could yell at him I had to run to the bathroom to throw up. He followed me in there and recognized it as blood. We fought for a good half hour when I wouldn't tell him. I said that you needed to know before anyone else but he got it out of me. It took him until sunrise but he did it. I told him I had cancer and that I was pregnant. He told me he didn't believe me. Cy said that I was just a slutty mistress with a drinking problem and was making it all up. He said that it wasn't possible for me to have a bastard child with you." Fitz's anger got to him and he squeezed her hand tight, feeling her bones he let her go. "I could have dealt with him calling me a name or anything he wanted to give me, but I was not about to let him talk about my child like that. I threw the wine glass at him and it hit his face. Only the stem part though, so it was a minor cut. No stitches needed but he had that ridiculous looking Band-Aid on his face. I showed him the ultrasound and the recording of the baby's heartbeat. I was going to show it to you but he destroyed the disc. He didn't talk to me for a while. At all until Dr. Rain called him at the White House because I had an emergency."

"What emergency? He never said anything."

"He didn't want you to know. Cyrus knew you were under so much stress and didn't want to see me or even hear my name so he left early and came to the hospital. I was throwing up blood again and he was the one on my contact list. At first he refused to come but Dr. Rain talked him into it. I had lost a lot of blood that time but not as much as I did when you found me at Camp David."

Fitz sat back and asked the hardest question he was going to ask her. "How did the baby die?"

Liv put her head on the table, letting the cold surface hit her forehead. "I was having chemotherapy for the cancer. Dr. Rain said the dose wasn't high enough to affect the baby. But I was going twice a week at that point. When I went in for an ultrasound on the twentieth week, the doctor couldn't find a heartbeat for him. The doctors said I had a miscarriage because of the radiation for the cancer. I had to deliver him and they induced labor for me to deliver him the next day. I begged Cyrus to let me tell you but he wouldn't let me near you. I went to the White House and got past security that night but Cyrus knew where I was and he had me arrested. They let me out early in the morning and I went to tell you again but you had left for the summit conference in Tokyo. I had to deliver him myself, even without Cyrus there." Olivia started to cry and she looked at Fitz with the saddest eyes he had ever seen on any human being. "He was so small. When they pulled him out of me, he wasn't even big enough to fit in the nurse's hands." Fitz pulled her onto his lap and rocked her back and forth attempting to soothe her. "They wouldn't let me hold him at all. I asked a million times to hold him but no one let me even see him. The nurse took him out of the room. When she came back I asked her what she did with my baby and she said she took him to the morgue to be cremated because it's the law." Olivia cried harder and gripped Fitz's shoulders with all the strength she had. "I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you. I tried, I really did. I wanted you to know even if there wasn't anything you could do about it. You had every right to know just as much as I knew. Please don't hate me for not telling you sooner."

Liv put her head on his shoulder against his neck. "I don't hate you, sweet baby. I'm so sorry you went through that alone. You will never have to do that again. I'm here forever for you. It's going to be okay. I promise, everything will be fine."

"I named him though. I had everything ready for him. His room was set up for whenever he arrived. It's still set up at my apartment. I haven't been able to go in there since it happened. It's too difficult to open that door and see all the baby things that I bought for him. I want to go in there and send everything back but I can't do it. I thought about hiring someone to do it, or having Cyrus take it all back but I don't want anyone in there."

Fitz continued rocking her until she was nearly asleep from the exhaustion of the emotional conversation. He carried her up the stairs to their master bedroom and got her dressed for bed then tucked her in. When he was satisfied that she looked comfortable, he went and took a shower. Fitz made a note to scream at Cyrus when Liv was not near them. He was so pissed at Cyrus for denying him the truth about their child. Cyrus needed to be brought down a few notches and realize that he did not control everything. Fitz wanted to sink into a bottle of Scotch and live there for the rest of his life but he knew it wouldn't be a life without Olivia. And right now, she needed him. Fitz added 'kick Cyrus's ass' to his mental list of things to do.

When Fitz got out of the shower, he threw on a pair of his boxer shorts and crawled into bed next to Liv. She wasn't quiet asleep when he settled next to her. She felt his presence and curled herself into his side. Fitz pulled her as close as he could to him and drew circles on her arm with his fingers like he use to do. Liv let out a low sigh of comfort and relaxed more.

He wanted to know so much that he asked her. "Livie, you said you named our son?"

"Yes I did," she responded as she laid her arm across his chest.

"What did you name him?"

"Justice Fitzgerald Grant."


	14. Yelling

When Fitz and Olivia returned home on Sunday they were both exhausted and went right to bed. The secrets were out and Fitz knew everything. He was determined to give Cyrus a piece of his mind the next morning before any meetings. How could Cyrus not tell him about Justice? Or about Olivia? Fitz held Olivia each night that they slept together, it made them both relax and enjoy the time they had.

On Monday morning, Fitz ordered Cyrus into the Oval to have a long talk.

"Good morning, sir," Cyrus was pretty chipper for a Monday morning.

"That is up to who you speak to. For you, this is not a good morning," Fitz spoke harshly.

"She told you everything?" He watched Fitz nod yes. "How I found out? How I kept it from you? How I was an awful person?" Fitz nodded again. "Well, let me have it. I deserve it. Whatever punishment you want to put on me, I can take it."

Fitz sat behind his desk, clearing the papers away. "If you weren't such an asset to me, you'd have been fired on Saturday. But since we are good friends and your child is my goddaughter, I won't fire you. Plus, Olivia seems to have forgiven you but I'm not so quick about it. She told me every detail there was to tell. Including you calling her a whore. I don't give a shit how pissed off you are at her or how much you are trying to protect this administration, you will never call her that or anything close to it again. Understood?" Cyrus said he got it. "You knew she was pregnant and you never came to tell me? We had a plan worked out that you helped with; you are supposed to be her friend. Friends help each other; they don't intentionally hurt the other. She deserves better than that; she deserves better than me but I can't let her go. I almost lost her before. I've lost my crazy bitch wife, the children I thought were mine, and the child that I never got to meet or know existed. I blame you for that Cyrus. I should have been there for her and our son when I had the chance. I know I was being stubborn and couldn't face her after the whole Amanda thing. But you should have told me the truth. Made me see reason and how much she needed me. Olivia tried so many ways to get to me and you had her arrested! How do you know she wouldn't have gone off the deep end? She could have hurt herself if she wasn't in her right mind. You were there for her but you weren't the one person that she needed."

"Fitz, I know I'm not who she needed. But America needed you more. Olivia was being taken care of by the best doctors possible. She also had me and James. We begged her to tell her team but she didn't want them to worry about her. I told her she couldn't tell you because it wouldn't be fair to you. How could she just leave you without a minute's warning then come back months later almost dying? It wasn't fair to you and she knew that."

"She wasn't trying to get me to come back to her, Cyrus! She was trying to tell me about the baby. Liv never wanted me to know about the cancer but she had to tell me if she was going to tell me about the baby. You knew how sick she was and how much danger that would put on the baby. You had every chance to tell me. I asked you how she was every day for months but you kept saying she was fine. She was nowhere close to being fine! And neither was our son. She told me all the details about the hospital."

Cyrus knew he was in trouble then. "I had to leave to help her. If I had told you that I was going to see her in the hospital, you would have come along and the country would have fallen apart. You ran on being a man of the people, you had to stick to it."

"The people would have understood that the woman I love more than life itself was sick and needed me more. As much as you hate the woman and believe me I do too, Sally could have taken over for a couple days. There's not damage that she could have done that couldn't be undone. Liv needed me then more than she ever has or will. You denied me the right and duty to take care of her."

Cyrus stood up and got in Fitz's face. "You had no right to take care of her! She's not your wife! She's not your responsibility. The woman you and I are talking about, Olivia Pope, is more than a million percent capable of taking care of herself. And when she wasn't able to, I did. When she lost that baby and wasn't able to take care of herself, I took care of her. She has a team that is more than able and willing to take care of her. Part of the job is going over a cliff and that's what had to be done. My job is to protect you and this presidency and I did it. But my job as her friend, her mentor, is to take care of her and make sure that she is fine. And when it came to picking one or the other I chose you. And you better believe that I chose the wrong one. She might have forgiven me but she will not forget about it and you can bet your presidency that she will hold it over my head until the last breath I take. So when you decide to get your head out of your ass and actually marry her, that's when I'll take a step back and let you do your duty and give you the right of taking care of her. Until then, don't ever tell me how to do my job with her."

Fitz watched Cyrus get his breathing back to a normal pace as he sat on the couch. "I understand that she isn't my wife. I hate that she isn't but I do intend to make her that. Eventually, when the time is right, we will get married. Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn't. Still, you should have told me what was going on with her." The two stayed quiet for what felt like hours but was nearly a few minutes. "Cyrus, what happened after she lost the baby?"

Cyrus didn't want to tell him but Fitz really did need to know what occurred to Olivia when he wasn't there to support her. "Dr. Rain called me and told me what happened. I went to the hospital and tried to talk to her but she didn't want anything to do with me. I finally convinced her to go home. So I took her back to her apartment. I made sure she got in bed and at least attempted to get some sleep. Before I left I dumped all the liquor she had and took any pills she had and threw them out. I wasn't sure if she would try anything but just to make sure I wanted them gone. I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt if she did something to herself. I went to check on her every day for a week. No matter what I said or what I tried to bribe her with she wouldn't get out of bed. The second week I told her that I would take her to you if she got out of bed but she wouldn't budge. I slept on the couch for a few nights but she still never moved. One day after I left here I went to her apartment and she wasn't in bed. She was in the baby's room in the rocking chair holding some bear that she got him and cried. When I went in to talk to her she just started screaming at me. And I took it, I knew I deserved it. She had every reason in the world to yell at me. After that, she sent me away and told me to never come back. I didn't want to upset her more so I stayed my distance."

"But you went to her appointments with her. You went with her to her chemo. Cy, you knew exactly what was happening at Camp David. She had to let you back in."

Cyrus nodded his head agreeing with every word Fitz said. "I did go. Just to be there for her. To let her know she wasn't alone in all of this. But she wouldn't let me into the room with her. She never told me anything about what was going on during the chemo. I tried to get in there with her but she never would let me in."

"Then how did you know everything?"

"Dr. Rain broke confidentiality and told me against her wishes. He thought that someone needed to know about her condition and how she was handling everything. She wouldn't let me in but she let James in. James went with her to her appointment and got to sit in the room with her and tell her everything was going to be okay while I sat in the waiting room worried that she might actually die from this. When you needed the mess cleaned up, I told you I'd get Olivia on it but I had to have James ask her for the favor. After you went to her apartment and she yelled at you I had enough of it. I used the spare key to get in and wait for her. When she got home she said I wasn't welcome there and I tried my best to make nice. I told her that she needed to tell you before she cleaned up your mess but she had changed her mind. She said she didn't want you to know about any of it."

"Liv stayed in bed for two weeks and never went to work?" Fitz asked him. Cyrus nodded saying she did.

"She got so attached to the baby before he was born, she even named him."

"I know, she told me. Justice."

"Liv said the name seemed right since both his parents were lawyers and worked hard to keep the justice system standard high."

"Thank you Cy, for taking care of her even though she wouldn't let you. I'm glad someone was looking out for her when I wasn't. She and I had a long talk about the baby and her not discussing things with me. We're both working hard to keep moving forward but I need you to stay out of the way. Don't ever deny her access to the White House. Even if she's carrying a live grenade in her hand when she walks through security, let her in."

Fitz went back to the residence in the early evening and looked around for Liv. When he went into their bedroom she had left a note on his pillow. _I went back to my apartment to get some things and finish some work. Be back soon. ~Liv._

Fitz asked Tom how long she had been gone and he said since eleven that morning. He got a bit worried and told Daniel to get the car. When they got to Olivia's apartment, the door was unlocked so Fitz walked in. He went searching for her and finally found her in the room he had never seen. He walked into the baby's room and saw her sitting in the rocking chair next to the crib with a blue teddy bear that she was holding against her chest. Fitz looked around the room, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Liv had the room painted a dark blue with red carpet. The crib was all made up, ready for a baby to sleep in it. All the furniture that was in there was white. She had an American flag blanket over the side of the crib and another white teddy bear holding the American flag in its claw. The bedroom was a hundred percent ready for a baby to come home. She had diapers, clothes, bottles, wipes, shoes, everything a baby would need. The only thing missing was a baby.

He went behind the chair, putting his hands on her shoulders as he bent down to kiss the top of her head. When she felt his hands on her, she stopped rocking and started crying harder.


	15. Revealed

Liv sat in the rocking chair crying for an hour before either said anything. She looked at the floor and finally spoke. "I'm so sorry Fitz; I didn't mean to lose our baby. It's all my fault." Liv cried harder as her words came out.

Fitz knelt on the ground in front of her and turned her head to look at him. "None of this was your fault. I know you didn't mean to lose Justice. He's in a better place. I don't blame you for any of this. Livie, you didn't do anything wrong. It was just something that happened."

She crawled down to the floor and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Fitz held her close and repeated that it was nothing she would fix.

"I could have told you sooner, I could have let you know that I was pregnant and you could have seen him."

He pulled her back from him. "Sweet baby, look at me. There is nothing that could have been changed. You did everything right. The circumstances suck but it's just how it happened. You or anyone can't be blamed for this. And I could have talked to you. But I was being stubborn when you needed me the most. I'm sorry, Livie."

Olivia leaned in and kissed him. "If you can forgive me then I forgive you. And even if you don't forgive me, I still forgive you. I love you, Fitz."

"I love you too, sweet baby." Fitz looked around the room again. "You did have everything that he would need. Why'd you come in here today?"

"I was going to box up everything and take it back. Or give it to a shelter or something. I don't need these things and someone else does. But I'm glad you came over, I wanted you to see it before I took it apart."

"Liv, this room is perfect for a baby. I bet he would have loved it."

Fitz and Liv spent the night at her apartment and in the morning she sent Fitz off to work. While she was getting ready to head off to OPA, Cyrus showed up at her door.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she opened the door.

"There's a rumor going around Capitol Hill."

"Cy, there's always a rumor there. What's so great about this one?"

"This one has a little something to do with you."

"He's at it again? He wants my help again? How'd he screw up this time?"

Cyrus laughed, "wrong, he's done nothing wrong. He just wants you."

"He lost me and I'm not going back. I don't want him so when you hear about those rumors, ignore them. He's not getting me back no matter how hard he tries." Cyrus stared at her a moment and she knew what he was trying to tell her. "He's at my office isn't he?"

"Huck won't let him in so he's in the lobby at the office. Got a plan?"

"Of course."

Olivia drove to her office and parked in the parking garage and went through the front door of the lobby.

"Liv, how are you?"

She looked right at him. "Go to hell, Edison."

"Good, I'm good too. Can we talk?"

"Go to hell."

"Be reasonable, Olivia. Let's talk."

She turned around and stared right in his eyes. "Read my lips. Go. To. Hell." Liv took the elevator up to her office and was met by Huck. "He's gone Huck you can relax." Huck turned towards the office door when Olivia screeched. Before anything could be said, Huck had Edison pinned to the ground, punching his face.

"Don't ever touch her," Huck told him. He got up off him and took Olivia into the office.

The day went on and Fitz called her a few times and noticed that something was off. He had Tom pick her up at the office and bring her to the White House.

"What's wrong? You sounded like something's been bothering you all day," Fitz asked when she came into the living room.

"Hi, how are you? How was your day?" Liv joked.

"My day was fine, I'm doing fine. I'm just worried about my girlfriend. How was your day?"

"It was alright. I just had a confrontation with someone I don't like. Other than that, it was fine."

"What kind of a confrontation? I should send Daniel or Tom with you from now on."

"I don't want security. I have Huck. He took care of it. Everything is fine now."

"Still, I'd feel safer if you would take Tom with you. He can protect you if anything happens."

"Tom is good at his job, protecting you. Huck is the one who can protect me better than anyone else. Except I don't need any protection."

"Livie, your clients are dangerous. You said you had a confrontation, who with?"

"No one important. Just Edison." Fitz stood up and started to pace back and forth. "He's not worth it Fitz. No need to worry about it. Huck punched him. It's fine."

"What do you mean Huck punched him? What did Edison want?"

"He grabbed my arm when I refused to let him talk to me. He took the stairs up to the office and just grabbed my arm. It wasn't a big deal; he didn't grab me that hard. Huck hit him and he's got a bruise from it, I'm sure."

"Why is he coming to see you? Does he have a problem to be fixed?"

"Fitz, I don't know or care. We aren't on speaking terms. He hurt me when we broke up so why would I talk to him? He's going to try and talk to me again but I don't want to and eventually he'll get the message. He's not getting me back."

Fitz went over to her and kissed her lips. "How did he hurt you then?"

"Well, we were still seeing each other when the cancer appeared but I didn't know it was cancer then. I wasn't having any sex drive so we weren't having any. And I wasn't getting it anywhere else but apparently, he was. He found some intern and was screwing her for months before I found out. We broke up and I haven't talked to him since."

"Livie, I'm so sorry that he did that to you. And that I did that to you. If I could take it all back I would. I'm sorry."

"You do a lot of apologizing now. Stop it. That had nothing to do with you and he was an ass for not realizing that something was wrong with me. At least you knew. You can't take any of this back and I wouldn't want you to anyway. If you took it back we wouldn't have the same outcome of it and I like it."

"I like this outcome too. Can I give you some good news?"

"I like good news, tell me."

"My lawyer called earlier. Mellie did sign the divorce papers and they have been filed. I'll be divorced at the end of the month!"

Olivia kissed Fitz hard as she led him off to the bedroom for the night.

Cyrus was early for work the next morning. He thought he might have time to rearrange the President's schedule for a very important meeting. He told Lauren to clear the afternoon for a meeting that would be at the White House by one.

"Good morning, sweet baby," Fitz said as he woke up next to her.

"Indeed, a good morning. You were great."

"We haven't gone that long, since the first time."

"But this was better."

"How? Nothing could ever be better than that."

"This time, you don't have to leave to go to her."

"Well that makes everything better." Fitz kissed her and they both got ready for work.

Fitz had finally got Olivia to agree to taking Tom with her for a few days after he threatened to not let her leave the White House and have an executive order signed. When he got to the Oval, Cyrus was sitting on the couch waiting for him.

"Good morning Cyrus, isn't it a beautiful day?" Fitz asked in a very perky tone with the biggest smile on his face.

"You got laid. So for you, I suppose it is a beautiful day. That is, until you have a meeting with the devil's right hand man. In the meantime, you have a joint chief's meeting and Sally wants to talk to you about something that apparently, I am not privy to. Then a few minutes before you have another meeting. I strongly suggest that you call Olivia between the two," Cyrus informed him.

"Actually, Olivia and I did have sex last night. Amazing sex, I may add."

"Spare me the details please, she is like my daughter."

"What's with the mood Cy? It's a gorgeous day, we aren't at war with anyone, no one has been shot at, and the economy is doing very well."

"Yes, Sir. The country is doing great today. Now, let's try to keep it that way."

Fitz went to his meetings with the joint chiefs and had lunch with Sally. Still, even after meeting with Sally, he was in a good mood. He called Olivia and had a few minutes to talk to her. At one on the dot, Lauren knocked on the Oval door, "Sir, your meeting is here."

He motioned for him to come in and saw who it was. "I'll call you back later," he said, no longer in a pleasant mood. "What the hell do you want?"

"Mr. President, nice to see you again. How are you?"

"Cut the shit, Edison, what the hell do you want?"

"To talk to Olivia."

Cyrus came in and heard what Edison wanted. "There's no way in hell that will happen. She wants nothing to do with you, stay away from her," Cyrus told him.

"I'm sorry Cyrus, this isn't between you and me. It's between him and me. Mr. President let's be honest, you can't care about Olivia the way that I can. She needs someone who can be with her in public and can take care of her. That's not you."

Fitz stood up and walked over to Edison. "Why does everyone seem to think that I can't take care of her? Olivia wants nothing to do with you. So, I suggest you stay the hell away from her. I heard about what Huck did to you yesterday. I could only imagine the things that he could do to you if you actually did hurt her. And personally, I'd turn a blind eye to it. You deserve everything you get from that. You cheated on her when she needed someone."

"Yes, yes, I know all about her cancer. Tragic, really, it is. But I'm very glad that she is alive and with us today. She needs someone to look after her though. At times, she forgets little things. Like when to eat."

Cyrus piped up from behind him. "How would you know if she had cancer?"

Edison turned to face Cyrus. "A little birdy told me. The same little birdy that told the press that she was hiding at Camp David for a week. And that the President dropped everything at the drop of a hat to find her and spent the rest of the week in the hospital with her. That she was and has been sleeping at the White House since she left the hospital. The press is all over this. It's on every news channel right now. She's being called the President's slut."

Edison turned to look at Fitz but didn't have a chance when Fitz punched him in the face. He called security and had them escort Edison off the grounds.

Fitz sat with Cyrus went to a meeting room and turned on the television. Edison wasn't lying. Olivia was all over every channel. They were showing pictures of Fitz and Olivia from the campaign and when she worked at the White House.

"She's got the news on in her office. She'd know by now that she's a headline," Cyrus told him.

"Get down to her office and bring her back here. Drag her out if you have to but bring her here now."

Cyrus ran to his car and sped down the streets to her office. The building was surrounded by press trying to get in. He went around back to the parking garage and ran up to her office. He opened the door to OPA and heard shouting from the meeting room. Looking around he tried to find Olivia. Cyrus walked into where everyone was. "Where is she?"

"She's gone."


	16. Gone

"She's gone."

"Gabby, what do you mean she's gone?"

"It's Abby. And gone. As in she left. She didn't even say why. She just came out of her office and walked out the door. She didn't say anything. Liv's probably with a client."

"Her name is the headline right now, she's not just gone. "

Cyrus went back to the White House and interrupted a meeting that Fitz was in. "She's gone, Sir."

"Who's gone, Cy?" Fitz was oblivious to what he just interrupted him for.

"SHE IS GONE! Olivia is gone. Abby said she left and didn't say a word."

Fitz got up from the meeting and headed back to the Oval. He tried to call her cell phone but it went straight to voicemail. "Tom is supposed to be with her, how did he lose her?"

Tom followed behind Cyrus into the Oval. "She was there one minute and gone the next, Mr. President. She went into the office and was there but I turned my back for half a second and she was gone."

"Go find her." Tom left the room and started on the search. "She's running again. Who put her name out there? That's why she's running. Find out who did it, I want them to pay."

"James already called and told me. They know who did it. And he's being paid a big amount for the feed. Plus he had proof of everything."

Fitz paced back and forth. "Edison didn't know about the cancer until someone told him. How could he leak this to the press? He keeps saying that he loves her."

"Sir, it wasn't Edison."

"Then who the fuck did this?"

"Dr. Rain." Fitz stared blankly at Cyrus. "He went to the Post and told them he had dirt on you. But he wanted a pay day first. They signed a contract and all that shit. Five million dollars to release her name. He was under review already for malpractice so the Post took the information and paid him."

"Find him Cyrus, I want him arrested and get Olivia's lawyer down here, mine too." Tom came in with Daniel before Cyrus left the room. "What did you find?"

"Her apartment is clear, so is her office. She's vanished again," Daniel told him.

"Shut down the airport and the trains. Get security at the airport to start looking for her and hold her until I get there if they find her. Check her credit card activity and get Huck to help. I don't care how you do it, just find her."

Fitz sent Tom and Daniel out to look for her along with Cyrus and the FBI. The press was everywhere outside her office, her apartment, and the White House trying to get any kind of comment they could get. It had been a few hours since they started looking.

There was a knock on the Oval door and Fitz told them to come in. "Mr. President, Justice Thornton is here to see you," Lauren said when she opened the door.

"Let her in." Fitz waited for Verna to come in and sit down. "Have you seen her?"

"I'm the only person other than you that she will confide in, I've seen her. She asked to use the plane. She told me that she just needed a vacation for a while. I let her take it, and now I know why she needed the vacation," Verna told him.

"She's running again and you let her take off? Verna, we have to stick together through this. She can't keep running every time we hit a rock. Where did she go?"

"Olivia didn't tell me where she was going; only that she had to go. She needed to get away for a while."

"She's running from me, from us for the millionth time. How are we supposed to be together when all she does is walk away?"

Verna went to Fitz's desk and looked him straight in the eyes. "She isn't running from you. She's trying to run from herself. Liv thinks that she's caused all this damage and is blaming herself. Edison is down her throat trying to talk to her and make her come back to him but she wants you. That's all she's wanted since day one, you. Giving her space is supposed to help but you and her have a special connection that even a blind man can see. Olivia just wants to figure herself out. Fitz, she loves you more than anything. She didn't want you to worry about her during the cancer or about Justice. You had more important things to do and she just wanted you to be great." Verna saw a light go on over Fitz. "Yes, I know everything. I'm the one who talked her into telling you. Cyrus and I still need to have a few words but I'll deal with him later. And yes I know all about the baby and the cancer. When James wasn't able to be there for her during her chemo, I was. There's no need to be pissed at either of us because if you did love her, and you loved her since the beginning then you would have left everything to be with her. You wouldn't have cared if she wasn't there at the end of your marriage to the wicked bitch of the west. And you would have fought to earn her love again. You didn't even need to earn you. Olivia Pope loves you through hell and high water. But dear Lord, you are quite an idiot for not seeing that. She's trying to work this whole situation out and not come down as an embarrassment to this administration and how she can continue running her business that she built herself. No one's ever been there for her and she saw you at the end of the dark tunnel but you ran from her. You have no one but yourself to blame, Fitzgerald. Marine One is waiting for you and will take you to her. Get going now, my pilot stopped at my request. She thinks they are refueling so you better move now before she catches on."

Fitz listened to every word Verna said, taking it in. All of it was true and he knew it. He ran to get on Marine One and flew to Richmond, Virginia where Verna told the pilot to stop.

When they landed, the pilot of Verna's plane came over to Fitz and told him she was waiting in the lobby of the airport for them to come and get her. Fitz thanked him and went to find her. As he walked into the lobby, Olivia immediately felt his presence, without looking at him. The entire place was cleared out but she hadn't thought anything of it. Olivia grabbed her purse and started heading in the different direction than Fitz.

"Stop walking," he told her. Liv continued walking and ignored him. "STOP. WALKING," he yelled at her. Olivia froze at his tone and stopped. He caught up to her and took hold of her arms. "You cannot keep running from us. We promised this was going to work out. We will work out. But you have to stay with me long enough to let it work out. I'm not leaving you so you can't leave me."

Liv looked up at him. "I'm the scandal. My name is out there and it's ruining your administration. We can't fight that. I can't be the problem. I have to be the solution. And I'm not the solution this time."

"You are not the scandal. We're going to fight this together and make everything work out. Come back with me and we'll pass this. My lawyers and your lawyers are working together to bring charges against Dr. Rain."

"Dr. Rain? Why him?"

"Livie, he's the one who told the press."

"No, Edison did." Fitz shook his head no at her. "But why would he do that?"

"He got a big pay day for revealing about us."

Liv started to think of the ways that she could get revenge on Dr. Rain. So far her favorite would be sending Huck after him, but it wouldn't be fair to Huck. "I was going to Verna's summer house in California. I just wanted to get away for a bit. Maybe a week, or a few hundred years. But it seems you need me more than I need a vacation."

"I do Liv, much more. Will you come back with me? I promise, we will figure out how to proceed together."

Olivia agreed and let him take her back to the White House. They sat up most of the night and discussed ways to fix the problem at hand. They thought of ways they could punish Dr. Rain and how to change the subject off of the two of them. But unless a Congressman got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, they would be the topic for a while.

"We could deny it. Just deny any relationship but they wouldn't believe us," Liv said. "We could also say that we've become close friends since the campaign and I was helping you through the divorce. Not as a fixer, just as a friend. That would explain the nights of you being at my apartment and me being here. People wouldn't question that too much. We will have to do an interview, or at least you will, to explain why you were with me at the hospital. But we need to know exactly what Dr. Rain said to the press. I have a feeling we aren't getting the whole truth."

"Do you think he revealed about the baby? He did tell about your cancer. What's to stop him from saying anything about the baby?" Fitz asked her.

"If he told anyone about Justice that would have been the main headline. We've got to discredit him, make him an unreliable source. He said that you were there and he had proof but he hasn't shown the press the footage that you were there. But the press would understand that you would be there if we were close friends."

"Livie, what would you say if I suggested that we do an interview together and said we have been getting closer since the divorce. That you helped me through it as a friend but we just started admitting our feelings to each other."

Olivia thought about it for a few minutes. "It's not a bad idea. But they'll want to know details. They'll want to know about the cancer and everything."

"What if I said I think we should get in front of the baby thing? Admit that we conceived a child together and that he died."

"First, stop calling him 'the baby' or 'the baby thing'! His name was Justice, I don't care if he didn't get to take a breath outside of me, he's still a baby!" Liv yelled at him. "Second, they will want details of that. How, when, where did it happen? Did Mellie know about it? How did Justice die? I don't want to go through all of that. If it comes up, it comes up and I will handle it then but I can't fix something that isn't an issue right now."

Fitz pulled her to him. "I'm sorry, you're right. He was our baby. Justice was our child. I wasn't thinking straight about it. We won't say anything until it comes up." Fitz kissed her temple and felt her relax against him. "Do you think an interview is a good idea then?"

"I think we should and we'll do it together. I'll have Cyrus set James up with the interview. I want someone who can control the narrative of this and someone we both trust. We'll get through this together, just like you said." Liv wrapped her arms around Fitz and they both fell asleep.

The next few days would be difficult, but as long as they were together, they could handle it.


	17. Interview

Olivia and Fitz talked about the interview with Cyrus the next morning. Cyrus agreed to tell James and get him prepared for it. On Friday night James was set up and prepared for the interview with Fitz and Liv in the residence living room.

"Are you ready?" Fitz asked her. They stood in the corner getting ready.

"As ever," she told him straightening his tie. "Why did I let you wear this? We're having a relaxed conversation with James, and it's nothing to do with anything presidential. We should change into jeans or something less business like."

Fitz kissed her lips then pulled away. "There isn't time for that now. We're supposed to start in a few minutes and you take forever to change. Everything is going to be fine. James isn't going to go over anything we aren't prepared for. He knows the truth about us so there's no surprise to him. Let's go sit down and get comfortable."

Olivia followed Fitz to the couch next to the chair James sat on. Fitz sat on the far end and pulled Liv down next to him. She got comfortable next to him and he laid his arm around her shoulders.

"You two look pretty cozy over there," James said. "Ready for this?"

"Yes," the said at the same time.

The camera man counted down and started the interview.

"Good evening America, I'm here with President Grant and the even more famous fixer, Olivia Pope. Mr. President, I guess you have something to share with us?"

The camera went over to Fitz and Liv. "Yes James, we do. Most of America has heard, read, been informed somehow that Mellie and my divorce will be final at the end of the month. America's asked who the person I had been having an affair with and tonight I'll answer it. Olivia Pope and I have been in love since we met. There's no way to deny that we more than care about each other. We've had our ups and downs just like any relationship but I finally came to the conclusion that I really needed Olivia in my life, for good."

"Well, I'm sure that the two of you have some love story to share," James said.

"I suppose we do," Olivia started. Fitz let her tell the story. "Cyrus, Fitz's chief of staff, was my mentor in college. After he started working on Fitz's presidential campaign, and things weren't going so well, Cyrus called me in to help. I hadn't officially met Fitz when we were in a campaign theory meeting. He was losing in the polls and had asked what he was doing wrong and no one seemed to speak up about it." Olivia laughed a little. "One person said that his problem was where he stood on the issues." All three of them laughed. "It wasn't the issues. I knew the issues were never the problem. It was his marriage." Liv looked up at Fitz trying to see his reaction. "Fitz and Mellie weren't the loving couple that everyone thought they were."

Fitz stepped in and started talking. "Mellie and I weren't happy. We hadn't been in a long time but we worked together as a team better. We were a team but not a married team. The things we did together were better when we hadn't spent time together. I knew Liv was right though. The problem was my marriage and there wasn't a way to fix it. Before anything that day went further, I told Cyrus to fire her, but…"

"YOU FIRED OLIVIA POPE!" James nearly screamed.

Both Fitz and Olivia laughed at his reaction. Anyone who knew Olivia knew that she was the best. "I tried to have Cyrus fire her," Fitz started again. "But Cyrus said that I couldn't do that. She was too much of a pistol. 'The best non-political student I ever had'. He still tells me that every time we talk about her. He made me go apologize to her for firing her before she could walk out because she heard me tell him to fire her from the doorway. I went to apologize and knew that I had to have her someway in my life. I thought I might die if I didn't."

"Well it seems that you and Olivia have finally been together. Did Mrs. Grant have any idea about how you felt about Olivia?"

"That was why I had to leave the White House Correspondents position after he got the presidency. We had gone to see the Declaration of Independence together and Mellie found out through a secret service agent that we had gone together. She wasn't happy about it and confronted me. We discussed him taking me and not her and she knew. I didn't want Fitz to have any issues in the first year, or ever, so I decided that it was best for me to leave," Olivia stated.

"She left me a formal resignation letter on my desk while I was at the Inauguration Ball. It wasn't a good way to start off a presidency. I was so lost for months without her. I had trouble functioning properly."

"But she's here now," James added. "How did you get her back?"

"Cyrus and I weren't seeing things eye to eye and we had a problem that needed to be handled. And when you have a problem, you get Olivia Pope on it. So Cyrus called her in and asked for her help to fix the situation. After a bit of pushing…" Fitz said.

"After a bit of pushing I agreed to come back and help but I couldn't stay long. Cyrus knew why but I had him swear not to tell Fitz why. One night, Fitz came to talk to me at my apartment and we got into a fight. I decided that it was best for me to take time for myself and go away for a while," Olivia finished for him.

"Where did you go?" James asked her.

"I got in my car and drove for a while. Fitz and Cyrus hunted me down and found me at Camp David. I thought it was the last place they would think to look for me but they did find me," she told America.

"Thankfully we found you in time," Fitz added.

"In time for what?" James sat on the edge of his seat like it was the first time he was hearing all of this.

Fitz wrapped his arm tighter around Olivia's shoulders and held her hand. "Before I left the White House, I found out that I had breast cancer. I was going through chemo therapy for a while. When Fitz and Cyrus found me at Camp David, I had been throwing up blood for a few hours. Just a side effect of the chemo."

"Well, I'm sure America is now wondering as much as I am: how are you now?" James asked.

"Rest assured America, I am fine. The cancer is gone and I am getting back to the way I was before," Liv told them.

"Yes, America. Olivia Pope is back to being the stubborn, fierce, amazing woman that she always has been," Fitz said.

"How has this affected you, Mr. President?" James asked him.

"Personally, it has had a deep toll on me. I was kept from her all during her cancer. Cyrus can tell you exactly how upset I was with him. And with her for not telling me. The thought of Olivia dying and me not being there kills me." As Fitz said it, he let a tear stroll down his face. Liv watched him and wiped the tear away from his face. "Even though it has had a deep effect on me, my presidency has not been affected. Cyrus has kept me up to date and made sure that I haven't missed a single meeting. The country is running great and will continue to run great."

"That's wonderful President Grant. It seems that you and Ms. Pope are very happy together and are fighting to keep together. But I'm sure that everyone watching has another question in mind. What is the next step in your relationship with Olivia Pope?"

Fitz and Olivia looked at each other. "Well James, we aren't quite sure on that yet. We take is one day at a time and face issues as they arise. Like I tell Fitz, 'I can't fix something when there's nothing to be fixed'," Olivia said.

"Liv always asks her clients 'what's the endgame?' Which means: how do you want this to end, what do you want when this is over? My personal end game, though, is to make Olivia the First Lady."

James looked shocked at what Fitz said. "Olivia, how do you feel about that? What's your endgame?"

Liv stared at Fitz for several seconds. "I'm not sure how I feel about that. And I don't know what my endgame is. But when I do know what it is, Fitz will definitely be the first one to know. It's something we have to discuss."

"Well America, it looks like there's a possibility of a new First Lady Grant. Thank you Mr. President and Ms. Pope for sitting down and chatting with me tonight. I wish you the best of luck in your next steps to your endgame. I'm James Novak. Goodnight America."

The camera man shut off the camera and told everyone what a great job they did. Olivia and Fitz hadn't moved for a few minutes, but Fitz could feel her body tense up. She got up and went over to Cyrus who was in the corner with James. "Thank you James. You did a great job. Cyrus," she clenched her teeth, "I'm going to bed."

Olivia stomped off to the bedroom she shared with Fitz. She took her hair out of the bun it was in and brushed it out. She changed into the silk white pajamas she loved and crawled into bed.

Fitz talked with the camera man for a few minutes and went to Cyrus when he saw Olivia leave the room.

"Somebody's in trouble," Cyrus chanted when Fitz was in earshot.

Fitz ran a hand through his hair, "how mad is she?"

"Teeth clenched," James put in.

"Maybe I should go spend the night with you guys," Fitz suggested.

"Oh no, she's your girlfriend, you have to get yourself out of this mess, leave me and my husband out of it," Cyrus told him.

"Way to have a brother's back Cy," Fitz patted his back and told him to see that everyone leaves. He went off to the bedroom and kicked off his shoes. He went over to her and saw that she was asleep. Fitz bent down and kissed her forehead. "Don't be mad at my endgame." Olivia didn't even stir when he touched her. She wasn't faking. Fitz got in the shower and got in bed pulling Liv to him so he could hold her.

When Olivia woke up she looked at the clock on her phone seeing she had five messages from her gladiators and that it was only 6:30 in the morning. Liv moved quickly and quietly to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She dressed in a pair of grey pants and a business appropriate black top. Liv applied her makeup and fixed her hair. When she went to put her shoes on she saw that Fitz was still asleep. She grabbed her purse and shoes and left Fitz a note on the pillow. She left the room and took Tom with her to OPA.

Olivia spent the day trying to get Senator Jameson out of jail for sending an underage prostitute naked photos of himself. She had Harrison work on how the public was taking the news from the interview from last night. "So much for it being a light day," she thought. Liv wanted to go back to the White House and not worry about everyone else's problems. She just wanted to fix her own relationship.


	18. Discuss

Fitz woke up around 8 that morning. He looked around for Liv but couldn't find her. She had made her side of the bed before she left. She left a note on the pillow for him. _Had to go to work. Be back tonight. I'm not running. ~Liv._

He hoped that it was true. Fitz got dressed for the day and went to head down to the Oval. He saw that there was Daniel and a different Secret Service agent waiting for him.

"Good morning Daniel, where's Tom?" he asked.

"Morning Mr. President, Tom is escorting Ms. Pope today. She left you a note," Daniel responded.

"She did but didn't mention that she was taking Tom. I'm glad that she did thought. I wasn't sure that she would approve of taking an agent with her anymore."

"Ms. Pope said it was for your own peace of mind that she take him. She wasn't too happy about it but thought it would be better than you just appearing at her office while her clients are there."

Fitz agreed and spent the day working his schedule with Cyrus. When his last meeting was finally over, it was almost 10 at night. He went up to the residence and found Liv in the living room drinking a glass of wine.

"Is it too late to talk or are you drunk again?" Fitz joked.

Olivia finished her glass and poured both of them another. "I just got back. That was my first glass."

Fitz nodded and sat down on the other end of the couch. "Cyrus said you were teeth clenching mad last night after the interview. Which part pissed you off?" Liv started to pour herself her third glass but Fitz stopped her and took the bottle away. "I'd prefer you to be a bit sober while you're yelling at me."

"Who said anything about yelling? I didn't plan on it, but I can if that's what you want."

"Oh Lord, no. We can keep this on civil tones. So, why are you pissed at me?"

"I was pissed at you last night; I'm not any more though."

"As great as that is, Livie, I still want to know why you were mad at me. One second you were fine, maybe even happy during the interview and the next you were done. You weren't happy after that. I don't know what went wrong."

Olivia turned her body towards him and relaxed. "It was a stupid reason to be mad to begin with. I didn't see why you had to tell everyone watching that interview what your endgame was. I thought about it. Why would you tell everyone that you wanted to be with me when you wouldn't tell me first? Then I thought about it all night, you've told me forever what your endgame was. I've known for a long time what you've wanted. I guess I was just so surprised that you would actually tell everyone that is what you wanted. Another side of me was wondering what's so great about me that you actually want to be with me? I was just second guessing everything when I shouldn't have been."

Fitz couldn't help but smile at her words. "I have told you forever what I wanted in more ways than one. I suppose I just wasn't showing you the right way to tell you. I have wanted to be with you since we met. That's one reason that Cyrus hasn't been fired. He brought you in to save the day and you did more than that. Livie, you saved my life. My marriage to her was more that dead but I couldn't get out of it. You made me want to get out of bed every day. Just to see your face was worth the misery of having to pretend to be happy with her. The house was built just for us. So that we can actually be together when I am finally released from this wonderful prison system called being President. There are a million reasons that I want to be with you. But the number one reason: I love you. I can't help but love everything about you. Even when we fight I still love you. I love the way you pace when you're thinking and when there is something wrong. I love how you take charge of every situation. But Livie, sometimes you have to let other people take charge. You can't be in charge of everything all the time. You and I are going to spend forever together. There's no way I'll let you get away from me again. We are meant to be together."

Liv started to cry while he talked. She realized that the reason she was angry the night before was ridiculous. She knew that Fitz wanted to be with her and when she got a grip on that, she knew that their endgame would have to be them.

"So, while you are finishing this sentence, what do we do?" she asked him.

"We do what we couldn't do before. We date. You and I have been outted and we can finally be together without sneaking around. But you, Livie, cannot run anymore. America knows how I feel about you and I won't apologize for that. I will apologize though. For making you even more of a public figure. I know you didn't want your name out there and it is. So before I get my hopes even higher, I need to ask you something and I'm only asking once. After that, it's time to work on the endgame. Do you want to be with me? Through all of this?" Fitz searched her eyes trying to get any sense if she was going to run away again. "If you don't want this, the whole shebang of being with me, I will let you go. I won't hold it against you or hold you here against your will but I need to know now. You know how this thing goes. If you ask me to right now, I will let you go free and clear. But if you do stay with me right now, I will use every fiber of my being to make sure that I keep you forever. So tell me now, do you want me to let you go?"

They held eye contact for several minutes in silence. He meant every word he said and she knew that. But how would they part? On good terms? Could they still be friends if they broke up? Would they be able to live without each other?

Olivia moved closer in to him, eyes locked on his. She kissed him hard on the lips and moved to his lap, not breaking the kiss. "Fitzgerald Thomas Grant the Third, I'm not leaving. I know that at times I get a bit spooked and need time to clear my head but I'm not leaving you again. We are in this together. And it's going to be great. Once you're out of this hell hole, we can retreat to Vermont in that amazing house and have what we've wanted all along. I love you Fitz."

"I love you Livie. It's going to be great." And with that they went off to bed together.

The next few days went very well. They both had a busy schedule but spent the night together. During the day one would text or call the other just to check in. Everything was going great for the two of them.

A few weeks had gone by and Fitz had to head off to a worldwide meeting in Tokyo. He spent every spare moment he would with Olivia the week before he had to leave.

"Why don't you come with me?" Fitz asked her the night before.

"Because it's only for world leaders. What am I supposed to do to Tokyo at a world leaders meeting?" she laughed.

"Go shopping, wait for me at the hotel, anything."

"I can do all of that here but I don't have time to shop. I have clients that need my help. Especially one, he's in desperate need of my help. And if I'm there anyway, you won't be thinking about what you should be thinking about. You'll be thinking about me at the hotel and worried that I might be getting bored and going out without an escort and running. Which I'm not by the way."

"Why do you read my mind like that? It's kind of rude. And who is this client?"

"My clients have privileges of confidentiality and I will not break that. And I can read your mind because I know you. I'll have Tom or Daniel or whichever agent you decide to leave with me by my side every time I go out, I promise."

"Thank you. It's one less thing for me to worry about but I do worry about you more than you know. And besides, security here at the White House is very tight. You'll be more than safe here." Olivia only nodded her head and agreed. "I'll only be gone for a week then I'll be back here." Fitz got in bed and wrapped his arms around Liv's waist. "Maybe we can spend the weekend at Camp David." Liv nodded and relaxed into him.

In the morning Olivia woke up at the same time as Fitz did. He had about an hour before he had to head out to go to Tokyo. Fitz and Olivia took a shower together and had their breakfast. When it was time for him to get on Marine One, she walked out to the chopper with him and kissed him goodbye.

"Will you call me when you land?" she asked him.

"And every spare moment after, but before I go…one minute?" Fitz asked her. She agreed and took both his hands in hers. They stared deep in each other's eyes and stayed in their own little world.

When their minute was up Fitz kissed her lips and gave Liv a tight hug. "I should land around 4 in the morning; still want me to call you then?" Fitz said.

"Whenever you get in, I'll probably still be awake, goodbye Fitz."

"Bye, sweet baby."

Liv watched him get on Marine One and moved away from it so they could take off.


	19. Ruined

Fitz landed just before 4 in the morning in Tokyo. He was rather tired from the flight over but did call Olivia to tell her he arrived.

"How was the flight?" she asked when she answered the phone. She had been staying up to make sure that she did not miss his call.

"I love how you skip the formalities and get down to business. It was fine though. Just exhausted from the flight over. How was your day?"

"I wish some clients would just tell me the truth and pull their head out of their ass. It would make my job so much easier. That's the rule if you're my client, everyone knows that. Tell me the truth or all bets are off. How hard is it to follow that rule?"

"Harder than you think, you are kind of intimidating for a small person," Fitz laughed.

"I'm not small. I'm average. Now be nice or I'll hang up. I should hang up anyway and let you get some sleep. You'll need it for the conference."

Fitz yawned and agreed with her. "I miss you already."

"Let's be honest. You started missing me before you even stepped on Marine One."

"Touché, that I did. I just didn't want to sound all needy. I'm going to bed now Livie. Call you later? I love you."

"Alright, love you too."

The two of them crashed after their long day.

Olivia woke up in the White House a little later than she usually did. After she got ready to go to work she thought to make a side stop down with Cyrus.

"Morning Cy how's the day so far?" she asked in her perky tone.

"Hey Liv. So far so good. As long as no one bombs the US or declares a nuclear war on anyone, I think we can handle Fitz being gone for a week. What are you up to? It looks like you have a tag along today."

"Yup, my escort until Fitz comes back," Liv motioned for Daniel to come in. "I'm heading to work. But as for holding on, I think the United States should be okay. All the leaders are in Tokyo for this conference so it's a bit of a jump to start a war. Care to have lunch today?"

"Usual spot?"

"Absolutely, noon?"

"Can't wait."

Liv went off to work and dealt with another Congressman who wouldn't keep it in his pants. Making matters worse it was a bribe to a Congresswoman for her vote. She worked out a deal between the two of them and gave her team the rest of the day off. When she went to the bistro that she and Cyrus usually went to, she realized she was the first one there. She ordered herself a Tom a cup of coffee and waited for Cyrus.

"I know I'm late, sorry," Cyrus said when he sat down fifteen minutes late. "Sally has a stick up her ass about a bill he's trying to pass."

"Hi Cyrus, how's your day going? Mine's going good so far," Liv teased when he gave the excuse.

"Ha, ha, so funny. Why couldn't we send her instead of Fitz to this meeting?"

"Because it's for world leaders, she is not a world leader."

Cyrus ordered some coffee and their meal. "So any particular reason that we had lunch today; it doesn't seem like a very friendly social visit."

"It's not the worst chat we've had," Liv said. She politely asked Tom for a private conversation with Cyrus and thankfully he obliged. "We need to talk."

"I think I know what you're going to say and I won't argue. We do need to talk. I know you both want me to apologize and I'm sorry for that."

"Cyrus, you guarded Fitz from me when there was no need to. I don't like to have to play middle but it seems that I have to. You're very close to not being on the inside anymore since he found out about Justice and what you did. The cancer was bad enough for him to hear but I had to add to him not having any children. I know it would have been tough on him to begin with but I had to tell him after he found out that the two kids he has raised since birth and the one she is carrying aren't his. It couldn't have been easy to find out that he had another child that died. He deserved to know Justice and you kept it from him. He won't forget that and he will hold it against you any time he sees fit. I don't blame him, I'd do the same thing. And I told you I would tell him about the cancer. When he needed to know and I was telling him right before you walked in to the hospital room. Cyrus, it wasn't your place to tell him. The look on his face haunts me every night. I made that appointment with him to tell him about Justice but he didn't want to see me. Of all the times that you could have told him, then would have been ideal, at least for me. I've been running through every scenario in my head of the ways for him to find out that I had cancer and about Justice, at Camp David, throwing up was not one of them. I know I've been playing the part of the love of his life for a while now but both of you seem to want to treat me sometimes as the mistress. And that's the part I play, no matter how this ends. Whether it be the fairy tale ending or the tragic separation I will always be the President's Mistress to everyone. And I can take blame for that. I gladly take it. I should have known better than to get involved with a married man, especially one running for President but I couldn't help myself. I got caught in the moment. I would have been fine being the mistress but I have," Liv paused. "Had, a child to think about. Justice was innocent in all of this, he never asked for any of this and I had to go back to wearing the white hat. As wrong as it sounds, I wanted to keep Justice from him for as long as possible. I didn't want the media knowing about him but Fitz would have found out some way."

Cyrus finished his coffee and listened to every word that Liv had to say. "You're right, even if I didn't tell him, he would have found out about your breast cancer and about Justice eventually. But it was better coming from you. You had to be the one to tell him. I may be a bastard about it but I would have told him if you didn't when the time came."

"You did tell him, at least about the cancer. Verna talked me into telling him. She was absolutely right, he needed to hear it from me to make it real. But I didn't want it to be real. As long as I didn't have to tell anyone about it, the cancer never existed."

"Liv, you had to face reality. You were sick and needed him. I was wrong to keep you from him but he was wrong to not accept that you wanted to see him. Fitz really needed to explain that he slept with Amanda before I brought you in to fix the problem. The outcome wasn't what I wanted it to be with her but there's nothing I can do about that now. I'm sorry he lied to you about sleeping with her and you know he is just as sorry."

Liv nodded and agreed with him. "We're getting off topic here. I don't care about Amanda. He wasn't with me and doesn't need my forgiveness. He might need Mellie's but that's up to him. You had no right to schedule that meeting and then deny me access to him. If he didn't want to see me, he needed to tell me himself. He's got no problem showing up at my door at all hours of the night for any other reason but he needed to tell me himself that he did not want to see me. Fitzgerald could have called me or shown up somewhere and told me himself. He didn't need to send in the dragon to tell me."

"Olivia, you're getting off topic again. You're placing your anger with him on me. If you're going to be upset with me, please let it be over something that I did."

"Sorry Cyrus, I'm just getting a bit stressed thinking about all of this again."

"Would you like to yell at me tomorrow after you've relaxed a bit? I'm all for that," Cyrus joked.

"No, now. You knew about my cancer and knew that I needed to tell him but you decided that he didn't need to know about it. Cyrus, you had to right to make that decision. It was mine, and only mine, to make. I was going to tell him; Verna made it clear to me that he needed to know. After the week I spent trying to get in touch with him and you came over I just changed my mind. I thought it might be better for him not to know. He didn't need the extra stress about me. I'm sure he had me followed all along. If his stupid Secret Service agents that were trailing me were bright enough, he would have realized that I was going to the doctor enough. You're the one who changed my mind about telling him. It's your fault that he found out the way he did, about everything. You and I were supposed to be friends. You should have made him realize that I made an appointment. When the hell do I make an appointment to see him! He can have agents sent to my apartment and to my hospital room to guard me but he won't talk to me himself? I do not make appointments to see people, people make appointments to see me," she stopped for a minute and took a few breaths. "You kept Fitz from his son and his child's mother when I actually did need him. I need to hear it from you, the truth, why you would do that. I have a good idea as to why but I want to hear it from your mouth."

Cyrus leaned back and watched her. She was serious. She wanted the truth and he would have to give it to her. "I thought it would take away from him leading the country. He needed to have focus on one thing. After you left the White House he was a disaster. Things were not getting done and he was drinking, aggressively drinking. A few weeks after you left, he was getting too aggressive. Lauren came in to tell him that Mellie was asking when he was coming to bed. He threw off the handle. He hurled the canister of Scotch at her. Luckily it missed. She got a raise by the way because of it. She left the room and came down to find me. When I went into the Oval he was laying on the seal drinking. I asked him what was wrong and he only said two words: Olivia Pope. I got him sobered up a little bit and asked what he was talking about. He told me something I never thought he would say. But you have to remember that he was drunk. In his normal state, he never would have said anything like that."

Olivia started rubbing at her temples, thinking of the worst thing Fitz could say about her. "What did he say Cyrus?"

"That you ruined his life. You were the love of his life that ruined it. He said that things never should have come out the way that they did and that loving you was a mistake." Cyrus grabbed her hands and made her look at him. "He was drunk. He didn't know what he was saying. It was just something he said but he didn't mean it. By now, he probably doesn't even remember saying it. He loves you, he chose you. You won over Mellie. And you have something that she never will have with him. You have a child."

"It wasn't a game to be played. Win or lose doesn't matter. And you know just as well as I do that when he gets drunk, the truth comes out." Olivia grabbed her purse and stood up, before she walked to the door, she turned back to Cyrus. "And I HAD a child with him. Justice is dead."


	20. Tokyo

Olivia drove around for a while before heading back to her apartment. Even though she didn't want company, she still had Daniel with her.

"You can go home Daniel. Spend time with your family or do whatever it is you do. I'll be fine," she told him.

"Sorry ma'am. President's orders. Unless another Secret Service agent comes to relieve me, I am to stay put," he answered.

"Daniel, the President is not here and I don't need a babysitter. Please Daniel, I promise you won't be in any trouble. I just would like to be very alone right now."

Daniel stayed put for a few minutes before answering. "I'm off duty in an hour. Another agent will be here but I can have him wait in the car, if you like."

"It's fine, thank you," Olivia opened the front door and walked in. "You can come in and watch something Daniel, I'm heading to bed. Just tell the other agent he can do the same."

"Thank you Ms. Pope." Daniel walked in and sat on the couch turning on the football game and putting the television on mute.

Olivia went in her bedroom and got ready for bed. Even though she was a bit sad with Fitz, she still missed him. She went to her closet and pulled out his old NAVY sweatshirt and put it on. As she climbed in bed she started to get a little teary eyed. When she pulled the blankets over herself, her phone rang. She looked at the idea and saw it was Fitz.

"Hi," she said in a small voice when she answered.

"Hi, why aren't you at the White House, I called there first but one of the maids said you decided to sleep somewhere else."

"I just didn't want to be there. It's not my house, it's yours. And i can't stay there forever, especially when you aren't there. So I came home."

"Oh, alright. How was your day?"

"Fine, I talked with Cyrus today. We had lunch together. I'm actually heading to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Before Fitz could say anything else, Olivia hung up.

Fitz was a bit worried. She never cut their conversations that short. He noticed that she sounded off. He wondered what could have been wrong but with Liv, it could be a thousand different things. He picked up his phone again and called Cyrus. "What's wrong with Olivia?" he asked when Cyrus picked up.

"Nothing, why? We had lunch together and I got yelled at. I thought she might be fine after that. Did you talk to her?" Cyrus asked.

"Of course I did. She's not acting like herself. She hung up on me. I know she's done it a hundred times but tonight was different. She just didn't want to talk to me. Can you find out for me?"

"Sure Fitz, I'll talk to her when I get to the White House tomorrow. I'm sure she's just tired though. But I'll talk to her in the morning. How'd your meeting go today?"

"Fine. Just a bunch of people talking about peace. All talk and no action. Watch out for her okay? I'll be back soon. Thanks Cy."

In the morning Cyrus went up to the residence but only found every bed made and no sign of Olivia. A maid told him that she didn't sleep there last night and she never saw her come in. Cyrus went to her apartment and met Daniel.

"She went straight to bed last night. I heard her talking to someone for a minute but then she didn't say anything again. She's not up yet," Daniel told him

Cyrus went to her bedroom and opened the door. "Morning sleepyhead. Sleep well?"

"Why are you here?" she mumbled. "I'm going to get up and go to work."

"You can do that, right after you tell me what's the matter. I've got a President on the other side of the world and isn't too happy when his girlfriend isn't happy. So tell me what the problem is and I'll fix it."

"I told him I'd talk to him today. I'm awake now, I'll call him and we can chat. Don't concern yourself in matters that you don't belong in Cy. It only causes trouble."

Cyrus agreed and left the room. Olivia picked up and called Fitz. When he answered he sounded a bit sleepy.

"Did I wake you?" she asked him.

"It's fine, Livie. I was hoping you'd call. Are you alright?" Liv stayed quiet for several minutes. "Livie?"

"Did I ruin your life?"

Fitz was shocked at her question. "Where would you come up with something like that?"

"Cyrus. We talked about a few things and he told me what you said when you were drunk one night. Did I ruin your life?"

"I was drunk Livie. You left me alone with Mellie and I couldn't stand it. She was at her worst then. I didn't know what I was saying. You never ruined my life. You only made it better. You could never make it worse."

"So I wasn't a mistake? You didn't make a mistake being with me?"

Fitz silently cursed Cyrus and his big mouth. "No you weren't a mistake. You never could be. Livie, you make my life so much better every day. I didn't know what I was saying. I just missed you so much and I was upset that you left me. I don't even know why I was thinking it. I just said it without thinking. You and I are meant to be together. There's no way that you were a mistake. Livie, please believe me, you were never and can never be a mistake."

"Fitz, I know when you are drunk you say things that you want to say but don't say when you're sober. If I was a mistake or if you made a mistake with me, tell me. I need to know exactly where we stand together."

"The only mistake I made was letting you leave. Well, at least that time. I've made a bigger mistake before. I should have divorced her before and stayed with you. I'm sorry that I didn't. And another mistake I made was not bringing you with me here. I miss you. I can't wait to get home and spend the weekend uninterrupted at Camp David with you. And I have a surprise for you when I get home."

"You know I don't like surprises."

"You'll like this one. Just wait until I get back and I'll give you your surprise."

"Having you home is good enough for me. I don't need anything else."

"Whether you want it or not, you'll be getting it."

"Yes, sir, Mr. President. Well then, I'll await your surprise in suspense. In the meantime, I need to get to work. Call me before you go to bed?"

"And the same to you."

They hung up and Liv got dressed for the day. When she went to the living room, Cyrus and Daniel were sitting on the couch waiting for her.

"Everything good?" Cyrus asked her.

"Better. But will be much better when he comes home. And Cy, do us both a favor. Don't tell me anything he says about me again, okay?"

"Sure but one more thing? He tells anyone who will listen that he loves you."

"I know Cy. I have a surprise for him though. I just need you to cover for me."

"Alright, what's the plan?"

Liv told Daniel and Cyrus her surprise for Fitz and got it in motion.

In Tokyo, Fitz went to his meeting and sat through all of it wishing he was anywhere else in the world. He went back to his hotel and ordered room service for dinner and went to bed. He called Olivia before but she never answered. Fitz fell asleep around 11 that night. He was having an amazing dream about his future with Liv when there was a knock on the door. He tried to ignore the knock but it was constant and getting louder. After five minutes of the knocking continuing, he finally got out of bed. In an irritated way, he spoke before opening the door. "Which one of them started the war thi…" he asked but was cut off when Olivia's lips met his. Fitz woke up enough to realize that it was his Livie, actually kissing him. He pulled her tight against him and closed the door leaving her suitcase in the hall. "What are you doing here?" he asked her when they pulled apart for air.

"I wanted to take a sixteen hour plane ride for nothing, what the hell do you think I'm doing here?" Liv teased.

"My Livie missed me. I knew you would eventually. I haven't been more than a few blocks away from you in a long time."

"Don't flatter yourself Mr. President. We've never actually been able to spend time together when you were a few blocks away. And yes, I did miss you." Liv leaned in and kissed him again. She started to take off her top and slide her bra off her shoulders. That was all she could do before Fitz took over. They went to the bed and made sure that their time in Tokyo would be very memorable. And which, it was.

Fitz woke up at ten that morning to prepare for the conference while Liv slept. He kissed her goodbye and went to the door. "Good morning Tom, Daniel. It's going to be a great day, isn't it?"

The two agents looked at each other and smirked. "Yes, Sir, I suppose it is going to be a terrific day."

Fitz saw them snicker at each other. "What's so funny?" He couldn't help but laugh himself.

"Well Sir, both Tom and I have been around Ms. Pope and she's normally a quiet woman. I think I've only heard her yell at someone when she was angry," Daniel said.

"But last night was definitely something more than yelling," Tom added. Fitz looked at both of them and gave a warning glance. "Sorry Sir, it just seems that Ms. Pope is rather… loud. I think she woke the entire hotel."

Fitz was a bit embarrassed that everyone had apparently heard them, but it was a bit late to be embarrassed about things like that. "Just promise that you won't say anything like that around her. If she knew you heard her, two things would happen. First, she'd give both of you a scolding for eavesdropping, even if you weren't. And second and sorry guys, most importantly, she'd deny me anything for at least a month."

Both agents nodded in agreement to not say anything.

When Fitz got back to the hotel after spending the day at the conference he was attacked by Liv when he opened the door. "Ready for round two?" she asked but didn't get an answer. Just his hands taking off everything.

Olivia and Fitz decided to skip dinner that night and go to bed. They were both too exhausted to even think about eating. When they got in bed for the night he pulled her into him and wrapped his arm around her stomach tracing circles on it.

"Will you tell me what your surprise is?" she asked him.

"No, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you." he answered.

"But I don't like surprises. And you know that. So why bother trying to surprise me?"

"Because I want it to be a surprise. And the best kind of prize is a surprise. Don't argue, just let it be a surprise okay?"

"Fine, I'll just get Cyrus to tell me. He tells me everything."

"Cyrus doesn't know. He can't tell you. But I can tell you that you'll like it."

"Wow, this must be big. It better be good. Are you at least going to tell me what to wear to this surprise?"

"Nope, it will be sent to you."

"It better be worth it then."

"It will be Livie, it will." Fitz kissed her cheek and went to sleep with her in his arms.


	21. Surprise

Olivia stayed with Fitz in Tokyo until it was time to go home on Thursday. When the two arrived back at home Fitz had to head back to the Oval immediately so Olivia went back to OPA.

Friday morning went by quickly for them. After Olivia returned from lunch there was a delivery for her. She opened the box and saw a note on top of the tissue paper from Fitz. _Your clothes were picked by a designer. This one was specially made just for you. Wear this tonight. Be ready by 8 at your apartment, I'll be there. Have a good day, Sweet Baby. Love, Fitz. _Olivia opened the tissue paper and saw a beautiful white spaghetti strapped floor length gown. She pulled the dress out of the box and held it up to herself looking in the mirror. She had to admit, whoever the designer was had wonderful taste. She put the dress carefully back into the box and closed the lid.

Liv went home and took a shower getting ready. She straightened her hair but left the front few strands in curls, just how Fitz likes. She got her makeup on and put had a glass of wine. Even though Fitz and Olivia had technically been together for several years, she was still nervous. Fitz had never had a surprise like this before. He wasn't sending Tom and Daniel for her this time; his note said that HE would be there. Once Liv got her nerves calmed down, she continued getting ready. She put on her shoes and waited until a quarter to 8 to get her dress on. When the time came she slipped the dress on. When she zipped it up she noticed that the dress fit her perfectly. This dress was made especially for her.

At 8 on the dot, Fitz knocked on her door. She put on her lip gloss looking in the mirror to make sure she looked good before she opened the door. He waited another minute and before he could knock again she opened the door.

"Hi," Liv said.

Fitz looked at the beautiful gown she was in, "hi." He cleared his throat. "You look amazing."

"Thanks."

"Ready to go?" Liv nodded and stepped out locking the door behind her. Fitz held out his arm for her to take and walked with his two trusted agents to the elevator. He helped her into the car and went around to his side with Tom opening his door. Tom got in and they took off.

"Will you tell me now where we are going? I think you've made me wait long enough," Liv asked with a tone of excitement and nervousness.

"You really hate surprises don't you?" Fitz asked. Olivia nodded yes to him. "Well I'm not telling you, we'll be there soon anyway. You do look beautiful in that dress."

Liv laughed a bit. "Nice way to change the topic. But thank you again. I love the gown, the designer made it perfectly."

Fitz took her hand. "It was made for someone who is perfect."

"Cheesy, very cheesy Fitz."

"Yeah well, you're cute." The car stopped outside a restaurant that Olivia recognized right away. "Come on."

Olivia sat in the car while Fitz stepped out and went to open her door. She didn't move when he held out his hand for hers. "Why are we here?"

"This is your surprise. What's the matter?" He asked when he bent down to see her at eye level. He saw her eyes dim, she wasn't excited anymore.

"Fitz, do you remember what happened the last time we were here? It's just a bad memory when I see this place. Why would you bring me here?"

"Livie, I know exactly what happened the last time we were here. It was the worst thing I had ever done. And I'm sorry. The last time we were here I let you go. I'm not doing that this time. I swear on my life. I don't want you to have any bad memories about us. This, tonight, is our actual first date. I'm making the bad memory into a good one. This is where we are going on our first date. Okay?" Fitz watched Liv's face go from upset to her showing the biggest smile he had ever seen her give. She took his hand and got out of the car.

Olivia could hear music playing as they entered; she saw that agents were lining the restraunt. They were spread at every entrance and exit in the place. She noticed there were a cook and a waiter there. The table that he let her go was the only one set. Fitz escorted her to her seat and pulled in out, pushing it in when she sat down. He took his seat next to her and the waiter gave them their menus. Liv looked at the menu as Fitz did his. He ordered a bottle of wine for the two of them and searched for what food he wanted. He found a steak that he wanted and Liv said she wanted pasta. When the waiter came back he poured them each a glass of wine and set the bottle down taking their order. As the waiter walked away Fitz glued his eyes to Liv.

"Quit staring Fitzgerald; you're making me uncomfortable," Olivia told him without even looking at him.

"I can't help it, you are breathtaking. I can only think of one other time that you looked more beautiful. But you get more gorgeous every day," he smiled.

"And when was that?"

"The day we met. You looked amazing then. You are prettier now than that day though."

Liv smiled at him and asked "How was your day?" She changed the subject.

"It was good, Cyrus didn't have a heart attack when I told him just before he left that I was taking you out for the weekend so it was a good day. How was yours?"

"Good, a guy sent me this beautiful dress and is taking me on a date. He's very handsome and I think I love him."

"I'm sure he loves you too." Olivia went to pick up her wine glass and take a drink but Fitz stopped her. "I want to make a toast before you do that. I think we should toast to us. To us, getting a new start without interruptions from any ex's or from Cyrus and to getting our end game. To us, finally being happy, together," Fitz looked in her eyes and saw she was very happy with this toast.

"Cheers," they said together as they clicked their glasses together.

The waiter brought their food out soon after. They decided to small talk while they ate.

"So we're going to Camp David for the weekend?" Liv asked.

"Yes." Fitz noticed her try to say something but he interrupted her. "Don't worry, you have clothes there and I have an all-day surprise for you tomorrow and Sunday. And I know you hate surprises but this is one that I want to do with you. I am positive that you will have fun. And no, I'm not telling you anything. Your makeup, even though you don't need it, is already with your clothes at Camp David, I had Daniel use the spare key to your apartment to get your things while you are here with me. We'll be going right after we are done here."

Olivia did not like surprises but this was a good surprise she thought. "Alright, I won't contest your plan. But I will say I don't like any agent going through my personal items without my knowledge."

"Not to worry Liv. I told him exactly where they would be, Daniel never went through the drawer with your panties." Olivia laughed and started to choke on her food.

"Don't tell me that Fitz."

They both laughed and finished their dinner. The waiter came and took their dinner plates and took their order for dessert. The two were silent for a minute and Fitz actually heard the music. He stood up and asked Olivia to dance. She took his hand and followed him to an empty part. They started dancing to _So Close _by _Jon McLaughlin_.

"This song seems perfect for our situation," Liv told him after listening to the first verse.

"I suppose it does but we're closer now than we ever were before. And we only get closer each day," he responded.

"How did you do all of this?"

"Easy, as President I can get any restraunt I want to close down for the night. Well that and a bit of money, it gets you everything you need or want."

"I don't like you spending so much money on me. I'm not worth it."

"Livie, you are worth every penny I spend. And if I can see you smile like you did earlier every time I get or do something for you, it's worth everything in my bank account. I just love to see you smile."

"You don't have to spend money on me to make me happy. Just being able to be with you makes me happy. It doesn't matter if it's only a few seconds or a whole week. As long as we aren't arguing with each other and in the same room, I'm happy. Fitz, you make me happy."

"And you make me happy, I love you Liv."

"I love you too Fitz."

They danced through the song and held eye contact through it all. When the song was over Fitz took her back to the table and they started eating their apple pie for dessert. After their dessert was gone Fitz walked Olivia to the limo and they took off to Camp David.

Liv fell asleep on the hour drive over, so Fitz carried her into the master bedroom. He took her dress off and hung it up, putting her in his old Navy sweatshirt. After he changed into his boxer shorts he crawled into bed and kissed her goodnight.

In the morning Fitz woke up after Olivia smelling the coffee that was brewing. He walked down to the kitchen after getting dressed and saw her standing against the counter sipping her coffee in a pair of jeans and a red tank top.

"Good morning sleepyhead, sleep okay?" she asked in a perky voice.

"I'd sleep better if someone wouldn't kick me all night. You seem to have slept okay though." Fitz went over and took his coffee from her, kissing her.

"Sorry, I was having a nightmare. I should be fine tonight. So what are we doing today?" Liv smiled and brushed it off.

"You are dressed appropriately since that was the real question. Because I'm not telling you until we get there. You'll need to wear your tennis shoes today. And a swim suit. We'll leave when you are ready and I get some food. Take your time, we have all day."

Liv looked at him trying to figure out where they were going. "I'm not going hiking or camping."

Fitz laughed, "We aren't doing those so that's good. Will you please get ready?"

She threw her hands up "fine" and walked away to get ready. Fitz was having a bowl of cereal when she walked into the kitchen. "Can we go now?" He finished his cereal and drank the milk. Fitz decided to make her wait a little longer. He turned on the water in the sink, washing out his bowl, spoon, and their coffee cups. "Tease." He dried them off and slowly put them away. "There are maids that get paid to do that, stop making me wait!" Liv yelled.

"Alright, alright. Ms. Impatient." They walked to the limo and got in. The driver drove for a half hour towards D.C. and stopped. "This is your surprise and you will have fun, understood?" Liv agreed and waited for Fitz to say where they were. "We're going to Six Flags!"


	22. Amusement

Liv was excited but petrified of going on anything at Six Flags. But Fitz was determined to make her have fun while they were there. It would definitely make her smile on some things. They got out of the car and walked up to the gate, getting in free for being a President.

"Where do you want to go first?" he asked her. Liv looked around and saw the Giant Drop and pointed to it. "Think you can handle that?" She laughed and ran to it, Fitz ran to catch up.

The Secret Service was everywhere covering them some were even dressed in regular clothes for more protection. Fitz didn't want to close the park for just them. The two ran up to the line and waited for a few minutes until it was their turn. People recognized Fitz right away and asked to take a picture with him, and he obliged sometimes having Liv in the picture with him. When they got to the front of the line, the maintenance person working made sure they were strapped in tight and started the ride. Liv grabbed a tight hold on Fitz's hand on the way up and not letting go. When they hit the top at 227 feet above the ground she was too scared to look down so Fitz teased her. "They all look like ants. Very tiny ants. Open your eyes Liv it's too cool up here."

"No Fitzgerald, I will not look," she started to say, before she could say anything else, they dropped. They both screamed bloody murder until they hit the bottom a few seconds later. Tom and Daniel were dressed in casual clothing and stood next to the exit waiting for them. Olivia noticed Tom had his cell phone out and had it pointed at them. "What are you doing Tom?"

"Recording all of this, it's too fun to watch. I'm having them sent to Cyrus and he's posting them on YouTube after he watches them. It's amazing to see how the President can scream like a girl from 227 high," Tom told her.

"Thanks Tom," Fitz said sarcastically, "he's going to use it for political gain. But as long as it's a fun day all is well."

As they were walking around the park more people asked to take pictures or get his autograph. Secret Service wasn't too happy about people just walking up but Fitz didn't have a problem with it. "Man of the people has to be with the people and still spend time with his girlfriend," Fitz reminded them.

They went over to the Revolution and waited in line. Fitz watched the ride a few times and gave Olivia an 'I don't think so' glance.

"It has a patriotic name, you have to ride it," she laughed.

When they got to the front of the line Fitz almost backed out and let Liv ride alone but she whispered a threat to him and saw Tom and Daniel with a curious look on their face.

"You wouldn't" Fitz gasped.

"Try me," she tested.

"Fine, you win." They got on the ride and Tom started recording again. They got strapped in and started to spin before moving side to side. Getting higher with each swing and dizzier with each spin. Fitz was getting to dizzy and begged Olivia to make it stop as if she had the switch to do it. She was enjoying the ride and the look that Fitz was turning green. As the ride went on going higher and higher Fitz wasn't feeling great. After a few more minutes the ride stopped and Fitz sat a moment before attempting to move. Liv helped him off the ride and he dizzily ran to the trash can and threw up his breakfast. Tom went over to help them out.

"How'd you get him on the ride?" he asked.

"No sex for a month," Fitz said for her. "The next time we fight, I automatically win."

"Fine, but you'll know that I'm right either way. Now come on, we'll get you some funnel cake or something," Liv told him. When Fitz felt better he offered his arm for her to take. They went over to a food stand and he bought a funnel cake for them to share. They sat down and ate it deciding what to do next. "Water Park?"

"I'm all for you in a swim suit," Fitz smirked.

They went into the water park and changed into their suits. He watched Liv move around a bit in her bikini. She led him over to Wahoo Racer and up the stairs. The two went down side by side head first; Liv nearly fell off several times on the way down through the bumps.

Several women came over to get pictures with the now shirtless President. He laughed when one asked if she could feel his abs. Fitz looked over at Liv and she told her it was okay with her if he would let her. The woman screeched in delight when she felt them and ran away after getting his picture.

They walked around a bit and found bumper cars; they rode in separate cars and slammed into each other continuously both laughing each time. As they kept walking around they found the Lazy River, Tea Cups, Carousel, Scrambler, and the Sky Trek Tower. Between rides Tom was taking pictures and recording them on the rides. Both Fitz and Olivia got pictures taken with all of the Looney Tunes characters they found. They went down to the live entertainment Kick It Up playing the country music and danced to the music. Even some of the Secret Service, including Tom and Daniel, took part in the dancing, unable to stop from toe tapping to it. Fitz danced with some other women and little girls while Liv danced with a couple other guys and some little kids. He found a game on the side where he would have to pop all the balloons in a certain amount of time. Liv applauded him when he got all the balloons popped. Fitz won her the biggest teddy bear there was and she drug it behind her not capable of carrying it and still see where she was going until an agent asked if she could take it and put it in the limo. When it started to get dark out and the lights were coming on Fitz took her to the Ferris wheel for the last ride.

"Thank you Fitz, this was an incredible surprise. I'm glad I didn't say no to this," Liv told him with a smile plastered on her face.

He leaned in and kissed her. "I'm glad you didn't say no too, but even more that you had a good time, Livie," he said. "This was a great day with you. Even with all the civilian paparazzi," they both laughed. Fitz pulled her to him and pulled out his cell phone. He opened the camera app and took a picture of him and Liv alone just being them.

They got off the ride just as the park was closing. Liv held Fitz's hand on the way back to the car. When Fitz got in the limo she turned and started to ask a question but he stopped her, "I'm not telling you Olivia, your final surprise for the weekend is tomorrow night, and I will not tell you so don't bother asking," he laughed.

"Does Cyrus know about the surprise tomorrow?"

"No, this was all me. He knows nothing about this weekend's plans. So Cyrus can't tell you a thing. I had to plan it that way; he kind of has a big mouth about some things. Just wait until tomorrow night, you'll like that surprise much more than today's."


	23. Roses

In the morning, Olivia woke up to an empty bed. She could hear whispering voices in the hallway, identifying them as Fitz and Tom.

"Is everything ready for tonight?" Fitz asked him.

"Yes, Sir. Taken care of down to the last detail. Ms. Pope will love it," Tom answered.

"Thanks for all your help. We'll leave around 5 tonight. Make sure everything is prepared."

"Understood, Sir."

Liv was sitting up in bed when Fitz came back in. "You heard that didn't you?"

"Not very much just something about me loving whatever happens tonight. Care to tell me now?"

Fitz got in bed and kissed her. "Nope, still not telling." He undressed her and laid her on her back for a morning sexcapade.

When it got to be noon they both decided it was best to get up for the day. As they showered she tried to pry some information out of Fitz.

"So do I need to wear something special tonight?"

"Whatever you like. Something comfortable would be great though."

"Will anyone else be there?"

"I'm not telling."

"Where is it?"

"I'm not telling."

"Will you tell me anything?"

"You're sexy when you're trying to get something out of me. But you're sexy every day."

"Subject changer!"

Fitz and Liv got out and dressed for the day and went down for some lunch in the kitchen.

"We've got a few hours before we leave for your surprise, anything you want to do before we go? We can take a walk around the grounds if you want."

"Can we take the horses riding?" Fitz agreed and took her to the stables. They took the horses all around the property of Camp David.

On the way back to D.C. Olivia tried once more to get Fitz to tell her the surprise.

"I don't like surprises."

"You loved yesterday's surprise, and the night before. You'll like this one even more. And I'm still not going to tell you. Stop asking."

Liv stuck her tongue out at him, "meanie".

"Behave or I'll show you how mean I can be," Fitz joked.

When they arrived at the White House Tom told Fitz that Cyrus needed him immediately in the Situation Room.

"I'm sure he does, this is part of the surprise isn't it?" Liv asked.

"No ma'am, the Joint Chiefs are assembled in the Situation Room," Tom answered.

"If it was part of your surprise he would have called me into the Oval," Fitz added.

"Fine, go handle the country," Liv said. She gave him a quick kiss and went up to the residence. After she unpacked everything in both hers and Fitz's suitcases, she went to go to the library and search through some books.

When the clock chimed 8 the residential phone rang. Liv picked it up after the fourth ring. "Hello."

"Normally I wouldn't call you like this but your phone seems to be not around you. I need a fixer now; the press wants to know how I'm going to handle the Nigerian girls' issue. Can you come down to the Oval?" Fitz asked her.

"What do they want to know about it? You can't step into Nigeria and tell them what to do. The government didn't take those girls, there isn't really anything you can do about it. You could send in the Military to help find them but that's going to cause interference and it won't help."

"Okay, could you come down here and help me, Cyrus is nearly having a heart attack. He says we should send whatever we have to go get those girls. Talk him off the ledge."

"Ugh, fine, I'll be right down." Liv hung up the phone and slipped into a pair of jeans, her old "Grant for the People" shirt and some heels.

"She's on her way. Tell everyone," Fitz told Tom and Cyrus.

"She'll have a fit when she realizes that you brought her down here under false pretenses," Cyrus said.

"But it's all going to work out so go," Fitz demanded.

Olivia stepped out of the library and saw Verna standing outside the China Room holding a single red rose.

"Verna? What are you doing here?" Liv was surprised to see her at the White House, especially in the Residence.

"Fitz needs you in the Oval, ask questions later," Verna told her as she handed her the rose.

Liv took the rose and kept walking. As she kept walking she saw Daniel standing outside the Secret Service room holding a white rose.

"What in the world are you people doing?" Olivia asked.

"Ms. Pope, President Grant requires your assistance in the Oval," Daniel said.

Olivia continued to walk down the hallway. Abby stood outside the Map Room and handed her a red rose. Liv gave her an odd look but Abby told her to keep going. Outside the Palm Room, Huck stood with a white rose for her. She knew she'd never get any information of out Huck so she kept walking. Walking down a bit further she saw Quinn outside the Press Corps Offices. Liv took the red rose from her and kept walking. "He could have just sent me flowers," Liv told anyone who would hear her. Standing outside the Press Briefing Room, Sally handed her a white rose. Olivia continued to walk further and met Stephen with a red rose in front of the Press Staff Offices. A bit further Jerry and Karen gave her a white rose by the Cabinet Room. "So much easier to send them direct," she thought. Harrison gave her a red rose by the Roosevelt Room. Liv walked into the President's Secretary's office and Lauren gave her a white rose. Liv went into the Oval and Ella ran up to her giving her a red rose while Cyrus and James watched them. "I knew you had something to do with this Cyrus," she told him. "What's going on? Where's Fitz?" Olivia watched Ella run outside the doors to Tom standing with a white rose for her. Liv followed her out and took the flower from Tom.

"He's out there ma'am," Tom told her.

Olivia looked out to the Rose Garden. There were tea light candles lit forming a path. Tom told her to follow it and she'd find Fitz. Liv followed the between the path of the candles, leading to a rose bush in the middle of the garden. She saw Fitz dressed in his suit with the tie that she took off a worker before an interview on the campaign and the Eisenhower pin she gave him before his Inauguration. Fitz held a dozen red and white roses in his hands waiting for her. "You do know it is a lot easier to have a florist deliver flower in person right? It's a bit much to have people you know line up and hand me flowers. But it was very sweet. The Nigerian girls…" she started but Fitz interrupted her.

"Do you know where you are right now?" he asked her.

"In the Rose Garden of course, I'm not blind Fitz."

"No, look around, recognize it?" Olivia looked around her. When she rest her eyes on the bush she was standing next to she nodded her head yes. "You own me, you control me. I belong to you. You think I don't want to be a better man? You think that I don't want to dedicate myself to my marriage? You don't think I want to be honorable? To be the man you voted for? I love you. I'm in love with you. You're the love of my life. My every feeling is controlled by the look on your face. I can't breathe without you. I can't sleep without you. I wait for you, I watch for you. I exist for you. If I could escape all of this and run away with you? There's no Sally and Thomas here. You're nobody's victim, Liv. I belong to you. We're in this together. Most of that is still true today," Fitz quoted himself from the years before when he told Olivia exactly how much he loved her. Olivia wiped away tears from her eyes. He handed her the dozen roses in his hand and kissed her soft lips. "The roses, these, are all freshly picked from our rose bush." Fitz took the roses from her and set them on top of the bush. "You still own me. You still control me. I still belong to you." Fitz took her hands in his. "I'm a better man because of you. I'm an honorable man because you helped me be honorable. I'm who you voted for because you help me be the one to vote for. I still love you. I'm still in love with you. You'll always be the love of my life. My every feeling is still controlled by the look on your face. I still can't breathe without you. I still can't sleep for you. I still wait for you and I still watch for you. I still exist for you. I did escape what I needed to escape from. There's still no Sally and Thomas here. You still aren't the victim, Liv. I still belong to you. And we're still in this together."

Olivia squeezed his hands and he squeezed hers in return. "Fitz what are you trying to say?" Liv asked him. She was waiting for a 'but' to come in at some point and knew it had to be coming.

"At the time the only marriage I was able to commit myself to be in was her's. I'm finally able to be with you out in public and not have to hide. I know you thought we were Sally and Thomas but we aren't, we never were. The only marriage I want to commit myself to ever be in is the one I have with you. Livie, I want to commit myself to you and our life together. To Vermont and to whatever comes with it. I want to be with you and commit myself to Justice and how ever more children we can have. I'm in this with you. I'm in life with you. I know I'm saying a lot of 'I' so I want, actually need to know what you want Livie."

Liv kept eye contact with him for several minutes. "I want Vermont. I want whatever Vermont comes with. I want you. We're in this together. As long as I have you with me, I'm in it for life."

Fitz popped down to one knee and kissed her hand. "Olivia Carolyn Pope, you make me the happiest person in the world. You have the most amazing smile, the best attitude, the best everything. I know we've had several rough years and a couple tough break ups but we've never actually broken up. You are the reason I want to get out of bed every morning. You're the reason I do my job as President, to make it a safer and better world for you to be in. And I know that for the rest of my life I want to spend every day with you. I want to wake up every morning to your little snoring and see your hair all curled up. I want to go to bed every night to you telling me about your day and what another crazy idiot in D.C. did that you had to fix. I want everything in between. The arguments, the sex, the makeup sex, the name calling, the craziness of our world. I want everything as long as it's with you." Fitz pulled out a blue Tiffany's box from his pocket and opened it. She looked down at it and immediately knew it was the one she wanted to wear the rest of her life. "So, my Livie, my sweet baby, will you marry me and make me the absolute happiest man in the world?"

Fitz squeezed her hand in his after a minute of no response. He was worried that if she didn't answer soon she would run and not come back. "Of course," she finally said.

Fitz smiled and took the princess cut, sterling silver, five karat diamond out of the box and put it on her finger. He got up and kissed her, picking her up and spinning her around. Everyone started to applaud them. Olivia turned to see who it was. She hadn't noticed that everyone who gave her a rose followed them out to the Rose Garden.

"I love you Fitzgerald," she kissed him again.

"I love you too Livie."


	24. Engagement

"You are marrying the President of the United States, it has to be a big wedding," James told Olivia. For the past hour James and Olivia had been arguing about how big the wedding should be.

"I don't see why everyone in the world has to be invited to our wedding. The press already gets invited and you are doing a story about it. The President and the Prime Minister of Israel don't need to come to see us get married," Olivia said. They sat with Ella in the Residence waiting for Fitz to finish in the Oval and come up to help plan the big event. It's October and they had set the date for May 24. They needed to get everything ready early since there were very important people who had to be invited. "Besides who wants to see the President of America marry his mistress of four years."

"Olivia Carolyn Pope, I heard that!" Fitz yelled as he walked into the living room. "We've discussed you saying things like that, now stop it."

"It's the truth Fitz. We were together while you were married. I knew you were married and I didn't do anything to really stop it. I'm the mistress who you've been with for four years and that's how the world sees it. I'm the fixer remember? I'm supposed to fix the issue not be the issue," Liv said pacing back and forth.

Fitz hiked over to stand in front of her, grabbing her shoulders. "I said stop it! I don't care how everyone sees it. You're not, nor have you ever been, the mistress. You are the love of my life and we are getting married in seven short months. Now stop the damn pacing and let's get to work on this before I get called down for another emergency."

Olivia agreed and gave him a quick kiss. "Fine, we're working on the guest list today. James insists that we invite half the world."

"I have to agree Livie. This is the first White House wedding since Cleveland. Even though Wilson got married in office, he didn't have a White House wedding. We have to invite leaders of other nations to celebrate with us," Fitz said.

"Remind me to kick Cyrus's ass for talking you into this publicity stunt," she ordered.

The three sat down and started to work on the guest list.

At Christmas, Olivia and Fitz talked about where to go on their honeymoon.

"We could go to Hawaii," Liv said.

"I can go to Hawaii any day of the week. It's in the country. You said you wanted to go to Italy or Paris. We could go to either of those. Both if we play the cards right. Where ever you want to go," Fitz insisted.

"Let's be honest, you could go anywhere you wanted, any day of the week. All you have to do is leave."

"True, but when I came back I'd have to deal with Cyrus and the turmoil that happened while I was away."

"And you'd have to deal with me."

"Like I would leave you behind," Fitz laughed and kissed her cheek.

"Well, you pick somewhere, surprise me! I get to spend a week with you but we have to wait until after Memorial Day because you have to hang the wreath at the tomb."

"Alright, I will surprise you but I want a signed statement that says you told me to surprise you and I want it notarized so you can't say you don't like surprises."

"Get me a pen."

As the wedding got closer, the busier things got. James got called back to work for the news station and had very little time to help Olivia with wedding details. She asked her gladiators if they would help but they all said that isn't what they signed up for. Abby tried to help but everything that she wanted was a bright pink that was making Liv sick. Cyrus didn't know a thing about planning weddings but agreed that he would most definitely be there for it. Fitz had been no use for anything wedding related. Every time she would ask his opinion he just told her he didn't care.

"Livie, I don't care what our wedding looks like. I only care about what you'll be wearing. I want to see the dress!" Fitz shouted each time the wedding was brought up for discussion.

She laughed every time. "You are not seeing that dress. It is under lock and key and no one but me has seen it. Not even James knows what it looks like. It's a surprise for the wedding day. Quit asking."

"Not until I see this dress."

The first weekend in April, Fitz decided to take Liv away for the weekend up to Camp David. With no interruptions the two stayed in bed all day for two days.

The week before the wedding Olivia was getting sick all day long. "Fitz, I'm fine. The flu is going around everywhere in this house. Lauren had it last week, so did Tom. Cyrus is out today with the flu. I just picked it up from him. I'll be okay in a couple days," Liv tried to tell Fitz.

"Will you let the doctor check you out please? I just want to make sure it's the flu and not the cancer coming back. Our wedding is five days away. I need you to be better by then. Just let the doctor make sure," he pleaded.

"Alright, if it makes you feel better I will go to the doctor and get checked out but it's only the flu. And you're going to feel overprotective the moment he says that it is."

"Then I will feel like an overprotective fiancé but for now please go down to see the doctor."

"Okay, I'm going. You need to go to your briefing. I will let you know the minute I leave the doctor's office. Go, be President and safe the world. I'll talk to you later." Liv hung up the phone and went down to the White House doctor.

He gave her an exam and made sure. "You're a hundred percent positive?" Liv asked.

"Absolutely Ms. Pope. It'll be over soon," the doctor told her.

"Thank you." Olivia went back to the bedroom and sent Fitz a text message. "_Only the flu"._ After a couple minutes she got _"Thank you. Rest, I'll be back as soon as I can." _ Liv crawled back in bed and called everyone to ensure that the wedding plans were going as she wanted.

Fitz came back up to the Residence just before 9 to find Olivia on the phone in the dining room yelling at whoever was on the other line.

"No one is to go near that dress. DO NOT TOUCH THAT LOCK!" she screamed.

Fitz came up behind her and took her phone, holding it to his ear. "If I don't get to see that dress before Saturday, not another living soul will see it." There was a pause as he listened to the other person. "Abby, she's adamant that no one is to even think about seeing that dress. I don't even have a clue what it looks like. Just don't go near it. You're a bridesmaid at the wedding and I need you alive this weekend." He listened to Abby a bit longer, watching Olivia stare at him. "Think about who you are talking about Abby, this is Olivia Pope. Unfortunately, no matter what the idea is, she gets her way. She's sick with the flu right now so don't stress her. I need everyone healthy this weekend. Work out the details with James and let me know. Don't touch the dress. Liv insists that on Saturday she will go herself to pick it up." Fitz paused again and listened to her. "Yes, thank you Abby. I'll see you Friday." As Fitz hung up he saw the smile get bigger on Liv's face. "What?"

"I won't let you see the dress and the only person who knows where the dress is happens to be standing in front of the lock and knows the combination but you don't let her touch it either. I love you!"

Fitz bent down and kissed her. "I love you more. So everything seems to be in place then?"

"Yes, we're just waiting on the guests to arrive. I've got a hotel completely shut down for the guests coming out of town. Karen and Jerry will be staying here with us though. Well, with you since I won't be here on Friday. After the rehearsal dinner I have to go to my apartment and I won't see you until we're at the aisle." Fitz wanted to protest against that idea but she stopped him. "We've had enough bad luck already in our lives. I won't taint this tradition. And besides, it could be fun. I won't see you for twenty-four hours. I'm sure you can live that long without me, we've done it before."

"Yes, but I was drinking then. It subsided everything."

"You will not be drinking. Cyrus and Jerry will be here with you along with the rest of the male wedding party. You will live. I've already had all the liquor taken out of here for the party."

"And Abby took the wine away from your apartment so we'll both be sober the day of the wedding."

On Friday they went to the rehearsal and the dinner before having to go their separate ways for the rest of the day. Before Olivia left in the limo to take her back to her apartment, Fitz grabbed her waist and pulled her back. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here tonight?"

"I told you, I won't break that tradition. We'll both be fine. I promise."

Fitz nodded and kissed her lips. "Okay, one minute?"

Olivia agreed and kept a hold of his hands staring into his eyes. They stayed for one minute and Abby broke them apart. "Six tomorrow night. Do not be late."

"Not a minute, Livie." They kissed one more time and went their separate ways.

At six o'clock the next night the music started for the wedding party to start their walk. Fitz stood at their bush in the Rose Garden with Verna officiating the ceremony. He had the biggest smile on his face waiting for Olivia. All 300 guests turned as the doors from the Oval opened to the garden. They watched Jerry in his black and white suit escort Karen in her black dress with white roses down the aisle. When they stopped at the bush, Cyrus took Abby in her black maid of honor dress down to the bush. As soon as they stopped, James, who was holding their rings escorted Ella in her little black flower girl down the aisle scattering red roses all along the path. Once Ella and James took their spot next to Karen and Jerry. The song _So Close_ started and Olivia walked solo down to Fitz. Her ivory lace gown A-line wedding gown with the beaded belt only added to her beauty. Fitz, and everyone else, couldn't take his eyes off her. She stopped for a moment and Fitz was worried she might turn and run and the most inopportune moment but she continued down. "My heel got stuck in the grass," she told him when she took his hand. He laughed and went to kiss her but Verna pulled him back.

"Not yet, Fitzgerald," she told him and all the guests laughed.

When the rings were exchanged Fitz took her hand to put it on her finger. "There's an inscription inside the band." Liv looked inside the ring and read it. "_One minute…forever."_

At the reception that was held in the State Dining Room, Fitz and Olivia stood at the door greeting and taking pictures with every guest. When everyone was seated the bride and groom took their seats and dinner was served. They cut the cake and had their first dance to _So Close. _

"Thank you for putting up with my insanity this week Mr. Grant," Liv said.

"Anytime Mrs. Grant," he responded. They danced to the song as everyone watched.

"I have a gift for you," Olivia told him.

"I thought we agreed no gifts to each other?"

"Actually it's a gift to both of us. But it's not here yet."

"Oh? And when will the fantastic gift be here?"

"In January." Fitz looked a little confused. "I'm wasn't sick with the flu. I'm pregnant."

"I love you!"


	25. Endgame

"Olivia, that baby is coming out today. He's ready and so are you. Take a deep breath. Push," Fitz told her. It was their seventh anniversary and Olivia was in the delivery room at the hospital in Vermont. "Scream if you need to baby."

Olivia let out a high pitched scream as she pushed two more times. "Fitz this baby isn't going to come out," she insisted.

"He's ready. Push one more time and he'll be here. Come on sweet baby. One more time." Fitz held her hand, he was sure she had broken his fingers.

"FITZGERALD YOU ARE NEVER TOUCHING ME AGAIN!" She screamed at him.

"You said that the last three times too. Come on, push!"

Olivia pushed again and the doctor pulled the baby out. When Liv heard the baby scream she leaned back to relax.

"Olivia," the doctor started. "I know you're tired, I need you to push a few more times for me. You can do it." Olivia was so tired but knew she had to do what the doctor said, though she wasn't sure why. "Two more and you'll be finished." Liv grabbed onto Fitz's hand again pushing as hard as she could and squeezing his fingers until his whole hand turned white. After the second push she heard another baby screaming. "Mrs. Grant, you have twins!"

Liv lay back in the bed and relaxed while Fitz went to see the babies. The nurse took them to get cleaned up and Fitz went to kiss Olivia. "You did great, Livie. They are perfect."

"You still aren't touching me again."

"I've heard that before." The nurse brought the twins over to her and Fitz putting the one in a blue blanket in Olivia's arms and the one in pink in Fitz's. "We got our girl!" He told her.

Fitz put their daughter in her arms with their son and she held both of them. "We didn't plan on twins though. We only have boy things," Liv started to freak out.

"Liv, Karen's in the waiting room. She'll get everything. She'd probably buy the whole store. What about names?"

"Her name is Liberty."

"Beautiful. His?"

"I'm not sure, ideas?"

"Adam?"

"I like it." She handed Fitz the babies and took a nap while he held them. After an hour, he woke her up.

"The kids want to come in. Are you up for some visitors?"

Olivia nodded and told him to bring them in. Karen and Jerry brought in the three kids. Even though Jerry and Karen weren't Fitz's children, they were still family and were treated like it. Thomas was had just turned six and was, technically, the oldest. Both Fitz and Olivia had told the kids about Justice and how he was the oldest child. When Thomas was almost three Olivia had their third son, George. And two years after that, she had John. He had just turned two and now she had the twins. She introduced Adam to the boys and then told Fitz to Liberty.

Karen held her hand out to Fitz and he knew what she was asking for. He handed her the credit card. "Just don't go too crazy please."

When Olivia and the babies were released from the hospital a couple days later, Cyrus and James were waiting at the house in Vermont for them. Karen had bought everything she could think a little girl needed, going a little overboard. They brought the babies in and put them in their cribs.

That night Olivia stood watch over her twins and Fitz came behind her.

"Now, we have the perfect life," he kissed her temple and hugged her.

"Thank you Fitz, for everything. I love you so much."

"I love you too Livie."


End file.
